Among the Lights
by Hostfanatic
Summary: What if Alvin and Dave hadn't been able to save Jeanette on the island? In this story, Zoe captured Jeanette after forcing her to get the treasure. Spider venom causes Jeanette to turn into an international pop star named Callie. How will the chipmunks and the remaining chipettes get Jeanette back...especially if they're lost at sea?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Hostfanatic here. Thanks for deciding to read my story—at least, I hope you decided to read my story. This is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism will be appreciated, but unhelpful flames will not be. Reviewing is appreciated, but I won't force you. I would, however, like to see what you think of my story! Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer—I don't own Alvin and the chipmunks, nor do I own any of the chipettes, nor do I own any of the songs that I used in here. I'm doing one disclaimer for the whole story, so if you want to see it again, here it is.**

Zoe grinned to herself as she got herself into position. She had worked out the plan from the moment she had seen the chipmunks and the chipettes. They actually believed that she had crash-landed, and they actually believed that she didn't know who they were! She had managed to fix her radio, and by going to the top of the mountain, she had gotten a signal. Now she listened to the chipmunks quite frequently. Of course she knew who they were. The moment she had heard them talking, she knew.

It couldn't have worked out better if she had orchestrated it herself. Sure, if the treasure had been somewhere where SHE could get to it, and the chipmunks had never gotten involved, maybe that was better. But this way, she could get a lot more publicity. A lot more money.

She had studied each of the six, trying to work out how she could do this the best. She had heard each of them sing, studied each of their personalities. And then when Simon had found the treasure, and she had realized that only a chipmunk could get it, she studied them even harder, trying to work out which one would work best for her purposes. And she realized in a heartbeat that the only way it would work is if it was Jeanette.

Alvin and Brittany? Too spirited. They would never do. She needed someone who would be meek and easy to control.

Simon? Too spirited as well, when he was Simone. And when the venom wore off, he was too uptight and too snarky to work.

Eleanor? Theodore? Less spirited, but still able to hold their own. And even so, they didn't have very much talent.

Jeanette?

Good at singing. She was talented. She was so meek and spineless that it would be easy to force her to do what Zoe wanted her to do. And if the venom changed her afterwards like it had changed Simone, then she would work excellently for what Zoe was planning. And there was the small detail that Zoe despised Jeanette. She hated her shy demeanor, but her beauty and ability to attract the boys at the same time. But she hated her most of all because Jeanette had destroyed her tennis ball Spaulding.

Jeanette had been dancing with Simone, and he had thrown her into an extra-vigorous twirl. She couldn't control herself when she came out of it, and threw her arms out for balance. Her claws had sunk straight into Spaulding. She had thought that the tennis ball was something attacking her, and she had ripped half of it apart before Zoe could stop her. Now Spaulding was gone.

It was all Jeanette's fault. And Zoe couldn't wait to get her revenge on Jeanette.

And now, there was just Simone and Jeanette, out in the woods together. Alone. Why, if she took care of that stupid Simone, erased some of the evidence, and hurried along with the plan, then everything would work out fine.

She grinned to herself.

One thing was for sure. She hoped that those stupid chipmunks had gotten a good look at Jeanette before she left the beach. Because it was the last time they would ever see her again.

Zoe got the balls into position and curled her hand around the length of vine in her pocket. Jeanette would have to be secured, of course. Until the venom got into her system, there was no telling what might happen. She might suddenly decide to grow a backbone and try to escape. And that would not do.

Just then, she heard Jeanette's high-pitched voice. "I hope this is going to be enough!" she chirped.

Zoe shifted positions.

Jeanette froze and sucked in a sharp breath. "Did you hear something?" she hissed.

"Who can say?" Simone purred, taking her hand. "When I am with you, all I can hear is the beating of my own heart."

_Ready…and…_

"Oh, Simone," Jeanette cooed.

_Now!_

Zoe threw Calloway with precise accuracy, and it struck Simone in the head. He fell to the ground.

Jeanette gasped and knelt next to him, shaking him frantically. Then Zoe pushed her basketball.

Jeanette turned and saw the giant basketball bearing down on her. Jeanette let out a shriek and began to run. Zoe had made dents in the trail that would make her basketball chase Jeanette to exactly the right point. Zoe had planned it all with detailed accuracy. The basketball would herd Jeanette, making her run straight to the rabbit hole that Zoe had discovered. By that time, though, the basketball would have gathered enough momentum that Jeanette would not be able to slow down. Thus, she jumped into the hole, and the basketball would cover the entrance. She would be trapped there for a while, of course, and Zoe would take care of the evidence. Then the little brat would get every bit of the treasure out of the cave, and it would all be Zoe's.

It worked like a charm, of course. Jeanette let out a shriek and dove into the rabbit hole. The basketball covered the opening.

Zoe triumphantly walked over. Her tone was light and friendly at first. "Well, you've gotten yourself into quite a heap of trouble, haven't you? Haven't you, you little _brat?" _Her voice twisted into a snarl.

"Zoe?" Jeanette's voice was shocked and hurt.

"That's right," Zoe cackled. "Me. You are going to be going on a trip with me, you stupid little chipmunk, and I hope you said your goodbyes to your pathetic little friends. You'll not be seeing them again."

"No!" Jeanette hammered on the basketball. "Let me out!"

Zoe laughed. "Oh, no. No, no, I think you're going to stay in there for a while longer. I have to take care of a few things. But don't you worry. I'll be back."

She pushed the basketball tighter into the hole with her foot until the hole was completely plugged up. Then she turned on her heel and headed back to take care of the evidence.

She could hear Jeanette pitifully scratching at the basketball, but she ignored it.

No one would hear.

Zoe had finished covering her tracks. She had climbed up a tree and hid Simone. No one would find him. She took care of her basketballs, and then she got everything ready before heading back to the hole.

She pushed the basketball away and reached down into the hole, drawing out a trembling Jeanette.

"I'm back," she singsonged.

"HELP!" Jeanette was screaming. "Somebody! HEEEELLLLP!"

Zoe began walking as she spoke, taking care not to leave tracks. "Shut up, you little brat. No one can hear you. Now, you're going to get my treasure for me. It's behind the waterfall. Only a chipmunk can fit through the opening to the cave, and you're going to get every last bit. Once you have every piece of treasure, every last earring, every last gold coin, I will transport it to where I need it to go. Then, you and I will leave. We will get back to civilization, and you are going to make me a lot of money. If you don't try to escape or yell for help, you won't be harmed. If you do…no promises."

With these menacing words, Zoe pushed Jeanette into the pack at her waist and broke into a run.

"You're not coming up until you have every last bit of that treasure!" Zoe warned again, tying the rope into both a restraint and a harness around Jeanette's body.

"But—the volcano's about to explode!" Jeanette squealed.

"Oh? Well, I guess you'd better hurry, then. Now, run. Go, go. There we go. Get down there!"

"No!"

Zoe reached a hand into the small opening and gave Jeanette's body a rough shove. Jeanette lost her footing and tumbled backwards into the cave. Zoe grabbed the end of the rope and held it taut so that Jeanette stopped. Then Zoe began lowering her down. She could faintly here Jeanette singing, and scowled. "Keep moving!" she yelled.

"Okay!" came Jeanette's voice after a pause. "Pull me up! I—I can't—hold any more!"

"If you can still talk, it means you haven't stuffed your cheeks yet!" Zoe yelled.

There was a pause.

"Mghgph! Mphhphhgh!" Jeanette mumbled.

Zoe grinned and pulled Jeanette up. Her cheeks bulged with the treasure, and her arms were filled with it.

Jeanette was small, so she had to bring it up bit by bit. Zoe lowered her down and pulled her up again and again. She had waited for this for ten years—another few minutes would not be a problem. She was getting nervous about the frequent rumbles and small rocks that kept falling. "Hurry up!" she snapped down to Jeanette.

"All right," Jeanette called from below after the treasure heaped up around Zoe in shimmering mounds. "That's it."

Zoe listened as Jeanette walked around on the bottom. Her toenails clacked on the stone instead of clinking on the gold and jewels like they had been the other times.

Zoe pulled her up.

"Now let me go!" Jeanette cried, her eyes big and pleading.

"I don't think so," Zoe sang, wrapping the vine more securely around her prisoner. "No, I'm not finished with you. You are going to make me a lot of money."

She put Jeanette back into her pack and packed the treasure up in all the bags she had brought. There was still some leftover, so she filled her pockets and her shirt with all of it. When she was satisfied that she had every last bit, she raced out of the cave after a ferocious rumble. No sooner had she gotten to the other side of the waterfall then there was another horrific rumble and the cave collapsed.

She smiled to herself as she hurried through the jungle to the log bridge.

"ZOE!"

She sneered. "Hello, Alvin."

"Where's Jeanette?" Brittany demanded. "What have you done with my sister?"

Zoe laughed wildly. "I'll never tell."

"She's on that side of the island!" Alvin shouted. "Come on, Brit!" He jumped onto the log bridge and started to run across.

"Oh, I don't think so," Zoe laughed evilly. She reached a foot out and slammed it onto the log bridge. It trembled. She slammed it again one more time, and it shivered violently and began to fall.

"ALVIN!" Brittany shrieked. She darted onto the bridge, grabbed Alvin by his hood, and dragged him back to the other side just as the log fell. Now there was an entire chasm separating Zoe and Jeanette with Brittany and Alvin.

And there was no way to get across it.

"Happy trails, chipmunks!" Zoe yelled, laughing maniacally. "And thank you for the raft!"

She turned and vanished into the jungle.

"What?" Brittany cried.

"The others!" Alvin gasped. "The raft!"

Brittany and Alvin raced through the jungle as fast as they could until they got to the beach.

Emerging onto the beach from the other side of the jungle was Dave, carrying the still-unconscious Simon/Simone, Ian, Eleanor, and Theodore.

"There you are!" they all cried at the same time.

"We went looking for you," Theodore explained as the two groups met on the beach. "We thought we could help…" He gasped.

"What?" Alvin cried.

"The raft!" he yelled. He pointed.

The raft was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Zoe chuckled to herself. She had lured the two groups away from the raft, and then had towed it around to the other side of the island. Now it was hers. She was going to get away safely, and whether the other chipmunks did or not, she did not care.

She loaded her treasure onto the raft and then pushed off. She was getting nervous as red-hot rocks, spewing from the volcano, hit the beach on every side, but she managed to get off the island.

She pulled out a Tupperware and smiled at the contents.

Oh, yes, she had plans for Jeanette. There were enough spiders there for her to reproduce them. Then she could get the venom out of them and put it in a syringe. And if she was careful to give Jeanette constant injections of it…Jeanette wouldn't be herself anymore. If she was changed like Simon had been, she would be more daring and outgoing. But what was most important was that she wouldn't remember her previous life.

She would be all Zoe's.

But first, she would have to disguise Jeanette, of course. The media would see her as a different chipmunk, not Jeanette who had gone missing on the cruise ship.

Zoe grinned when she pushed her paddle through the water. She smiled when she realized that she had made it. She laughed in pure exultation when she realized that she had made it! She was alive and off the cursed island, and she had the treasure. What's more, she had Jeanette. _She had Jeanette. _That was a bonus she hadn't been expecting! If she disguised the chipmunk and brought her to the media as a different chipmunk, they would totally buy it. After all, if there were six singing chipmunks in the world, what's to say there couldn't be another one?

Zoe reached down into her pack and pulled out Jeanette. She smirked tauntingly at her. "Thank you very much, Jeanette, for getting that treasure for me," she sneered. She turned Jeanette so that the chipmunk could see the bags and bags of treasure. "I knew you would cooperate."

She turned Jeanette back to face her. Jeanette's large purple eyes were overflowing with shame.

Zoe laughed delightedly. "You know what you did," she whispered, "and you have to live with it."

The shame and guilt increased, and it only made Zoe laugh harder. Zoe began to unwrap the vines, and Jeanette began to look hopeful for a moment.

"Oh, no," Zoe whispered, a smile curling at her lips. "No, no, no, Miss Jeanette. I'm not releasing you. You are going to make me even richer than I already am."

Jeanette wriggled as hard as she could. "No!" she exclaimed. "I'm not going to help you again!"

Zoe's lip curled as she unwound the rest of the vines, still keeping a tight grip on Jeanette with one hand.

"I think you will," Zoe whispered. She grabbed the vines again and stood up clumsily in the raft. She walked over to the mast on the ship and stood up. She reached up about halfway up on the mast and pinned Jeanette to it. Then she looped the ropes around Jeanette and tied it tight, fastening her to the mast.

"There," Zoe said with satisfaction, stepping back and looking at the tiny chipmunk, tied to the mast. Jeanette wriggled.

"There's no point in squirming," Zoe whispered, stepping closer, her eyes sparking with malice. "You are my reward, Jeanette, and I am going to keep you there where I can see you, where I can admire my prize."

"Stop it! Stop it!" Jeanette yelled, struggling furiously. "Let me go!"

Just then, there was a deafening rumble, and Jeanette and Zoe both looked up in time to see the volcano erupt. It spewed rock and lava all over the island.

Jeanette screamed. "SIMON!" she shrieked. She slumped down on the mast, sobbing. "Brittany…Eleanor…Alvin…Theo…"

_This was their raft! They were still on the island when it…when the volcano…_

Zoe cackled maliciously. "I must thank you, my dear. You helped me get all of the treasure." She gestured to the overflowing bags, and saw the shame rear up once again in Jeanette's eyes.

"Yes," she smiled. "You helped me get all of this lovely treasure. And yes, you are GOING to help me again."

Jeanette shook her head violently.

Zoe reached for the Tupperware in her pack and stepping closer to Jeanette. "Oh, yes. You will. You are going to make me even more rich than I already am. And the clincher?"

She pulled the Tupperware out of the pack and held it up so that Jeanette could see the spiders running around inside, the spiders with the venom that made your personality change and made you forget about it. Zoe relished in Jeanette's look of absolute horror.

"The clincher is that you won't remember a thing."

Zoe put the pack of spiders back into her bag, to Jeanette's relief. Then she grabbed an oar and began to paddle. Jeanette tried to wriggle out of her bonds, but she was stuck, tied to the mast. She looked helplessly back at the island, her purple eyes filled with tears.

Then she thought she saw something. She blinked the tears away and looked harder.

A faint, dark shape was moving steadily away from the island. She squinted hard and shook her head slightly so that her glasses went farther up on her nose. She could just make out two large figures on it and five smaller ones.

_They made it! They're okay! They're alive._

Jeanette thought about screaming for help, but then she realized that the two rafts were too far away for them to hear her, and then Zoe might hurt her. Or, even worse, she might target the others and go to kidnap them or hurt them. _Whatever happens to you,_ she told herself firmly, _the others must not get hurt. They can't. Think about Ellie. You have to protect her, and Theo. And Simon!_

Jeanette watched helplessly as her family grew smaller and smaller until they finally vanished.

"The volcano's about to explode!" Eleanor screamed. She pointed to the smoking, sputtering mountain in the distance. Theodore wrapped his arm protectively around her.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Dave yelled.

"Look!"

They all whirled to see Ian dragging an enormous log out of the jungle and holding two of the spare oars that they had made.

Dave ran over and helped him get it in the water. They pushed off and began to paddle with all their might, struggling to hold the log steady.

They were quite far out to sea when the volcano erupted. Eleanor shivered, and Theodore put a comforting arm around her.

"What the…"

The chipmunks scampered over to where Simon was finally waking up on the log.

"Are you okay, Simone?" Theodore asked worriedly.

"Simone!" Eleanor cried.

"Why are you…calling me…Simone?" he mumbled dizzily.

"Simon?" Alvin gasped.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Ha, ha!" Alvin cried, rubbing his brother's shoulder. "You're back! It finally wore off!"

"What wore off?" Simon stammered.

"You were bitten by a spider!" Alvin said earnestly. "It…like…messed up your brain!"

"Where are we?" Simon asked, pushing himself up on the log and looking around. "I thought we were on the island."

"It's a long story," Eleanor said, looking back at the island, which was now being rained on by ash and lava.

Simon shivered as he saw it. "That mountain was a volcano?" he exclaimed.

"Yes," Brittany nodded. "It was scary."

It was then that he noticed Dave and Ian. "Dave!" he cried. Then he froze. "Wait. Ian?"

"It's okay," Dave assured him. "Ian's cool now. He saved my life, actually."

Simon regarded Ian suspiciously, and then turned to face his siblings. He frowned.

Alvin…Brittany…Theodore…Eleanor.

Someone was missing.

"Wait," he croaked. "Where's Jeanette?"

They all froze and exchanged looks.

Simon's heart started to hammer. He pushed himself up on one arm. "That's not funny, guys. Where is she?"

Brittany sighed and knelt down next to him, putting a paw on Simon's leg. "She…" She looked at the others, and Eleanor nodded once. She turned back to Simon. "She…" Brittany held back a sob. "She's gone, Simon. Zoe took her."

Simon fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

"Look!" Zoe pushed herself upright and shielded her eyes at Jeanette's cry.

"Land!" she gasped. She dug her paddle into the water and pushed as hard as she could.

Two hours later, she was drifting into a bustling harbor. Jeanette still swayed from the mast.

She reached up and quickly untied Jeanette from the mast. Then she tied Jeanette up again and put her in her pack.

She snuck off of the raft and hid behind a house.

"Where am I?" she wondered to herself.

She decided to ask.

"You're in Florida," the man huffed grumpily. "Honestly, why don't you even know what state you're in?"

He walked off.

Zoe gasped. "Florida…" She grinned. "My old house was in Florida!"

She began to run.

"Where are we?" Jeanette squeaked.

"We are at my old house," Zoe told her, pushing the door open. "And underneath this house is a lab. And you and I are going to go to that lab. Right now."

She grinned evilly at Jeanette's horrified look. She hurried to the stairs and pressed a secret button hidden in the banister. The stairs moved aside to reveal another set of stairs, this one leading down. Zoe grabbed Jeanette tightly and descended into the darkness, hitting another button when they got to the bottom so that the staircase above moved back over the staircase below, completely hiding it from sight.

Zoe flicked on a light, and the lab was instantly flooded with light. Zoe grabbed Jeanette and carried her over to the table. She dropped the bags and bags of treasure in the corner.

"I'll get to those in a minute," she decided. "But first, I have to deal with Miss Jeanette here." She grinned as she carried Jeanette over to a table and put her on it. She untied the vines and then took Velcro straps and strapped Jeanette down. Jeanette was wriggling and screaming with terror at this point, but she couldn't move because of the straps.

Zoe slowly took the container of spiders out, making sure Jeanette could see them.

"No!" Jeanette cried.

"Oh, yes," Zoe said evilly, pulling on plastic gloves. She pulled a spider out of the container and pulled up Jeanette's small purple skirt slightly so that her leg was exposed. "Say goodbye, Jeanette. You are nonexistent. I wonder who you'll be when you wake up?" She grinned at Jeanette's terrified look. "You won't remember a single thing. Your sisters…your dear Simon…all of that will be gone."

Jeanette began to cry. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" Zoe laughed. "So that I can be rich. Say goodbye to the world, Jeanette."

Then she placed the spider on Jeanette's leg, and the spider bit her.

Jeanette fell unconscious.

And then she began to change.

"How are we going to get her back?" was the first question Simon asked when he woke up.

"Get who back?" Eleanor asked.

"JEANETTE!" Simon yelled, exasperated.

"Oh, Jeanette." Eleanor bit her lip.

"You were planning to get her back, right?" There was a dangerous glint in Simon's eye.

"Yeah," Brittany said quickly. "Of course, Simon. She's our sister."

"But…" Eleanor stammered, looking back at the island, now a speck in the distance. "What if Zoe left her…"

She didn't finish her sentence. Everyone shivered.

"Zoe's too greedy for that," Theodore spoke up. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"What?" Brittany was alarmed.

"She's probably planning to use Jeanette somehow," he explained. "To make her rich."

"That's true," Eleanor nodded. "It does sound like her."

"But she already got the treasure!" Brittany exclaimed. "She's already really rich."

"Well, Jeanette could make her even richer," Alvin pointed out, reaching a paw into the water to steady the log, which was rolling dangerously.

"Not to mention the fact that Jeanette helped Zoe with the treasure and was forced to do it. If Jeanette gets free and runs to the media to tell her story, Zoe could get in big trouble."

"Well, she could've just left her on the island if she didn't want Jeanette to spill her beans," Theodore pointed out. Simon, Eleanor, and Brittany winced.

"That's true, but she wouldn't have gotten rich off of Jeanette that way," Alvin chimed in, trying to keep a level head. He didn't want Jeanette to die. She was his sister.

"But I don't think she'd cooperate," Brittany pointed out. "She may be more shy than us, but she wouldn't willingly help Zoe if something bad was going to come out of it."

"I wonder…" Simon was thinking to himself. "Maybe she's got some way of controlling Jeanette."

"It's possible," Brittany agreed. "We'll have to wait until we find our way back to civilization to make sure."

"How are we going to find her once we get back to land?" Simon demanded.

"If I know Zoe," Brittany said grimly, "she's going to want to make this public. The more audience, the more money."

Zoe watched in fascination as Jeanette changed.

Her height did not change. Her hair, however, grew longer and longer, popping out of the purple hairband. It fell to the floor. Her nails grew slightly longer. But most importantly, her dark brown chocolate fur began to get lighter and lighter. When it was done changing, it wasn't brown anymore. Nor was it blond like Brittany and Eleanor. It was a deep red.

"It appears the venom changed her physically, too," Zoe thought to herself. "That's an interesting twist…but it's good for me, because now the media won't recognize her."

Then she got to work.

She made sure Jeanette was securely strapped down to the table before leaving, making sure to hide the secret staircase behind her. Then she hurried to the store and bought some clothes for her. Different clothes. They were both doll-sized and chipmunk-sized.

Then she hurried back to Jeanette after buying some chipmunk-sized supplies. She snuck down and was relieved to see that the chipmunk was still asleep. The fur on her head, her hair as it were, was waving to her waist. It was as red as the rest of her. Zoe was a little surprised. The other chipettes' hair hadn't been that long.

She shrugged it off. Then she got to work.

She removed Jeanette's purple shirt, jean jacket, and skirt. Then she quickly replaced it with the clothes that she had gotten for her—a turquoise shirt and a sparkly aqua skirt with a blue belt. She removed Jeanette's purple glasses and replaced them with turquoise ones. She tied Jeanette's long hair back into a ponytail.

Then she sat down and waited.

She had the back-story all ready when Jeanette's eyes finally fluttered open.

Zoe had unstrapped her, of course, as not to arouse suspicion. Jeanette was gone. No part of her would remain.

Only her eyes.

The rich purple irises were the same as they had been before. They almost seemed to glow for a moment before she blinked, her eyelashes fluttering. She looked absolutely beautiful. She frowned and squinted, and then pulled the glasses off. Evidently, even though Jeanette had needed them, Callie did not.

Zoe got ready to prepare her acting skills.

"Callie!" she gasped, and ran across the room to scoop up the little chipmunk. She held her close. "Oh, Callie, you're awake! I was so worried about you!"

Jeanette wriggled in her arms and did a backflip, landing on the table with a slight thud. Her eyes were wide with alarm. Inwardly, Zoe was impressed. So the new Jeanette was more athletic than the old one had been. More graceful, too.

Zoe made her eyes wide and worried. "Callie, what's the matter?"

"What…you…who are you?" Jeanette whispered, her eyes wide with alarm.

_No, _Zoe reprimanded herself mentally. _She's not Jeanette. Not anymore. That's Callie. That's not Jeanette._

_ Jeanette is gone._

Zoe wanted to grin at that, but she forced her mouth to stay in the worried frown. She began to become stern. "Calissa. That's enough. That's not funny. I was worried about you!"

"Who are you?" Callie repeated, her eyes wide.

"What do you mean?" Zoe stared at her in astonishment. "Zoe? Your mother? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Who am _I?" _Callie whispered, staring down at herself. She pinched the skirt between her two fingers.

"I dressed you while you were unconscious," Zoe said hurriedly. "Your other clothes were so dirty…I mean, that's your favorite skirt, so I just thought you might like it."

"It is?" Callie whispered. She looked more closely at it. She tugged at the belt slightly.

Then she looked up with wide purple eyes. "Zoe…I don't know who you are. I don't know who _I _am. I don't know what's going on."

"Oh, no," Zoe whispered, her eyes filling with tears. _Careful…you have to orchestrate this exactly right. _"You can't…remember?"

Callie shook her head, her eyes wide and worried.

"I have to get you to the doctor, quick!" Zoe exclaimed. She snatched Callie up and raced up the stairs.

She ran and got into the car. She hadn't driven a car in ten years, and she hoped she still remembered how to do it.

"Just hang on, Callie," she called. "We'll fix this. I promise."

She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

It was working just as she had planned it.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Simon asked to himself. The other chipmunks were singing "Survivor" with downcast expressions, and Ian and Dave were searching the skies in vain for any sight of an airplane or a helicopter.

"I hear something!" Eleanor cried, breaking out of the chorus and waving a hand to shush the others. She frowned, concentrating. Then she whirled and pointed to the right. "It's coming from…that direction!"

They all cheered as they saw a cruise ship come into view.

"HEY!" they all yelled, jumping up and down and waving their arms. The ship came closer and closer.

"We're going to get back home!" Brittany enthused happily, clasping her hands together.

Simon waved as hard as he could as the ship came closer and closer. He could feel it bringing himself closer and closer to Jeanette.

_Hang in there, Jeanette. I'm coming._

"I don't think that it is fatal," the doctor was continuing as she checked her notes. "But do you have any idea how it got there?"

Zoe snapped her fingers. "Our vacation!" she cried. "Callie got a spider bite on our vacation on the way back home. Do you think that could have caused it?"

"It's most likely," the doctor nodded. "I say you give it some time and allow the venom to run its course through her system, and then she should return to normal."

"That's the thing," Zoe said with a frown. "That's how she normally acts and looks. The only thing that's different is her memories are completely gone."

"Well, they should come back within a few days," the doctor assured her.

"Thank you so much," Zoe told her, smiling brightly. She picked up her purse, which she had found at her house, and headed out of the room.

Callie was waiting in one of the plastic chairs, her legs swinging back and forth as she stared around the room with interest.

Zoe carefully arranged her facial expressions into a downcast look. Callie looked up at her when she entered the room, and her purple eyes were filled with trust.

"Let's go home, Callie," Zoe sighed, scooping her up and putting her in her purse. Callie poked her head out and looked worriedly up at Zoe.

Zoe buckled her into the car before driving home. They got home, and Callie scampered on all fours after Zoe as they went into the house.

Callie jumped up to the table, doing a flip in midair before landing lightly on her back paws on the top of the table. Zoe tried not to look alarmed or surprised. Callie was certainly more acrobatic than Jeanette had been.

"Callie…" Zoe sighed. "You probably don't remember about our vacation if you don't even remember who you or I am."

"No," Callie said, shaking her head, her purple eyes wide and troubled.

"Well, we were going to vacation on an island way out in the middle of the ocean," Zoe explained. "And you were bitten by a snake when you were out there." Zoe sighed. "You were unconscious for almost a week, sweetie. I got you home as fast as I could, and when you woke up, you couldn't remember anything. Correct?"

Callie nodded.

"Sweetie…" Zoe put her hands over her eyes and pretended to let out a sob. "The doctor says that you're not going to get your memories back."

Callie's eyes widened in horror. "I'm…I'm never going to remember ANYTHING?" she whispered.

Zoe sighed. "I'm so sorry, Callie."

"Can…is there…" Callie couldn't finish. She sighed after a long moment. "Tell me about myself. What am I like?"

Zoe smiled to herself and began to lie.

The ship grew closer and closer to the little raft. Simon read the lettering on the side. It said, _S.S. Tipton._

He frowned. The _Tipton? _He'd never heard of a ship like that.

Then a rope fell over and hit the water near them with a splash. "Grab on and climb up!" a voice from above yelled.

Dave and Ian both climbed up hand over hand. "Okay, guys, hang on and we'll pull you up!" Dave called down. Brittany, Alvin, Eleanor, Theodore, and Simon all dug their claws into the rope and hung on tight. Dave and Ian helped pull them up off the log, which floated merrily off on its way in the opposite direction of the ship.

Once they were on board, they came face-to-face with two blond boys that looked exactly alike.

"Wow! Alvin and the Chipmunks!" one exclaimed.

"You're such a dork, Cody," the other one retorted. "You'd think you've never seen someone famous before."

"I haven't, Zack!" the first one reminded him.

"What about London or Marcus?" Zack asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"They don't count," Cody shrugged.

"Excuse us!" Simon interrupted. "Listen. We were shipwrecked and—,"

There was a shriek from across the deck. They turned to see a girl with black hair, fancy clothes, and a purse jump up on a lounge chair. "Look!" she cried. "ENORMOUS FURRY BUGS!"

"That's London," Cody said, rolling his eyes. "She's got a strange lack of brain. Don't mind her."

"Those aren't bugs!" another voice exclaimed, and a pretty blond-haired girl raced across the deck to kneel down beside them. "Those are the chipmunks! And the chipettes! They're international rock stars."

"Finally!" Brittany folded her arms. "SOME one has brains."

"H-h-hi, Bailey," Cody stammered.

"I'm not Bailey, I'm Brittany!" Brittany snapped.

"I'M Bailey," the blond corrected. She smiled. "Wow, guys, I'm such a big fan. Can I talk to…" She froze and counted again. "Wait a minute, where is she?"

"Who?" Cody asked.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor guessed sadly.

Bailey nodded eagerly. "She's so pretty and smart! I'm such a big fan of hers."

Brittany crossed her arms with a "humph." Why was Jeanette getting all the attention from _everyone _lately?

"Jeanette…well…er, she isn't here right now," Eleanor said sadly, staring at her feet.

"What?" Bailey cried.

Simon stepped forward. "She got separated from us by an evil girl named Zoe. We don't know where Zoe took her. We have to get back to the United States so that we can find her."

"The United…" Bailey stared in silent shock.

"Oh, dear," Cody said quietly.

"What?" Brittany asked sharply, her anxiety level rising. "What is it?"

"Well…um…" Zack and Cody exchanged uneasy glances.

_"Spit it out!" _Simon snapped. The others looked at him in surprise—Simon never yelled.

"The United States?" London asked cheerfully. "We won't be there for over a year!"

The chipmunks, Brittany, Eleanor, Dave, and Ian all stared at her in shock.

"You see," a short, bald, African-American man said apologetically from the back of the crowd, "this isn't just a cruise ship. The _Tipton _is a floating school for these children—," He gestured to Cody, Zack, London, and Bailey, "—along with many others. We make stops and travel all around the world, and I'm afraid that we aren't going to be back at the United States for over a year."

"You mean we can't help Jeanette for over a YEAR?" Simon cried.

The man shrugged apologetically. "I'm so sorry."

Brittany and the others were all staring at Simon, waiting for a reaction. He did absolutely nothing. Brittany hesitantly reached forward and put a paw on Simon's shoulder. "Simon—,"

Her touch reminded him so much of Jeanette's that it actually hurt, like a lancing blow to his chest. He shook her paw off and scampered off the deck and down the stairs.

The others watched him go silently.

The man cleared his throat. "I am Mr. Moesby. You are all welcome to be passengers on the ship, of course," he added. "I think we have a spare room for you, and the chipmunks can all go to our school. We will strive to help you as best as we can, of course."

"Thank you," Dave said quietly.

"Do you have anything I can wear other than this pelican suit?" Ian asked.


	4. Chapter 4

_**One Month Later**_

__Zoe strolled into the kitchen. "Hey, girlfriend," she called with a smile.

Callie looked up and grinned. "Hey, Zoe." Callie never called Zoe "Mom." It didn't seem right, even though Zoe was her mom.

She did a backflip off the stove and landed on the rack above the cupboards. She grabbed the handle and flipped herself up on top of it. She grasped the handle with one hand and used her leg to push off on the cupboard so that the door swung open. She dangled from the handle for a moment and then swung back and forth on it like a trapeze artist before letting go and soaring through the air, managing a double front flip into the cupboard before hitting the bottom of the cupboard, somersaulting twice, and springing to her feet next to the plates.

Zoe applauded Callie, grinning. Callie grinned back, but it was a somewhat nervous grin as she kicked two plates down to the counter below.

"You are going to knock their socks off," Zoe told her knowingly. Callie managed another nervous smile. She hopped down, grabbed the enormous spatula in her tiny paws, and began stirring the bacon around on the skillet.

"I think that your memories might subconsciously still be there," Zoe remarked as she looked at the breakfast that was cooking. "You always loved bacon and eggs."

Callie sighed quietly. Zoe knew she was sad. Zoe hurried to pull the chipmunk into a hug. "Listen," she said gently. "You are always going to be myCallie. And you _know _everything about yourself, even if you can't _remember _all of it. You are so talented and wonderful, and that snake didn't change any of that."

Callie nodded.

"And hey," Zoe continued in a lighter tone, trying to bring the mood up some, "why didn't you wake me up? I should be making breakfast for YOU, not the other way around. It's your big day, after all."

Callie grinned. "I thought that you might need a break, and you were already sleeping, and I was already up, so…" She shrugged as she shoved the spatula under the eggs and flipped them. Then she heard a clicking noise. "Oh!" She carefully adjusted the plates ever so slightly, and then she ran over to the toaster. She clambered onto the lever that was already pushed down. After a second, it popped up, launching both Callie and the toast into the air. Callie did a triple front flip in midair and then twisted herself out straight, holding her arms out and soaring through the air like she was doing a swan dive. She stretched her paws out and grabbed two pieces of toast in one hand and the other two in her other hand. Then she did a midair twist, a backflip, and landed perfectly on the butter dish.

Zoe laughed so hard she had to sit down. "You always do this before a performance," she teased. "Don't wear yourself out, Callie."

"This is warming up, not wearing out," Callie replied with dignity as she popped open the butter and buttered the toast. "Besides, Zoe, this is a different performance than the others. This is important! I could become a _superstar, _Zoe. I could become international! World famous!"

"You'll do fine, Callie," Zoe assured her. She grinned as she popped the bacon, eggs, and toast onto the plates. Callie poured the orange juice with some difficulty because of her small arms, but she managed to do it without spilling.

Zoe grinned and clinked glasses with her, and they sat down to eat.

"Where's Simon?' Brittany asked as she entered the classroom.

"Same place he always is, I'll wager," Alvin sighed, flopping down on the desk next to her. He covered his eyes and muttered, "This is all my fault."

Brittany was so surprised that she dropped her books. "Alvin!" she cried.

"If I hadn't been so stupid on the ship…" Alvin dropped his head onto his paws. "We wouldn't be in this mess."

"Alvin—," Brittany started.

He held back a sob as he dropped from his chair and scampered out of the room. Brittany sighed.

"I don't think he's going to be back, Miss Tutweiler," she told the teacher sadly, approaching her desk.

Miss Tutweiler looked up with a sympathetic expression. "I understand, Brittany. Do you want to be excused, too?"

"No, I'll stay." Brittany scampered back to her desk. She usually shared it with Alvin, but it looked like she was going to have it herself today. Behind her, Eleanor and Theodore were sadly stacking up their books on their desk.

Theodore suddenly straightened up. "I gotta fix this," he muttered. "Ellie, come on. We're going to solve this problem once and for all." He stood up. "Miss Tutweiler, we'll be right back," he called firmly. Then he grabbed Ellie's paw and jumped off the desk. Confused, she followed him.

Brittany watched him go and sighed, turning to face the front again. "Looks like I'll be the only chipmunk in class today," she mumbled, pulling out her geography folder.

Theodore stopped in front of the door to their cabin. The boys had a cabin and the girls had another. "They're going to be wallowing in here," Theodore said with a steely glint in his eye.

"I'll take care of Simon," Eleanor said softly, putting a paw on his shoulder. Then they both scampered into the room.

They were both on opposite sides of the room. Simon hadn't even reacted when Alvin came in and flopped on the bed in tears. Simon just stared at the ceiling of the cabin like he had ever since they had moved in. He stopped only to eat and go to the bathroom as needed, and then he was right back on the bed. He hadn't even bathed in two weeks, as far as Eleanor remembered.

Simon couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. It was like Jeanette had torn half of him away when she had gone as well. He couldn't function properly without his other half. He noticed her constantly when she was around—her smile, her laugh, her blush, her beautiful purple eyes. But she was even more ostentatious when she was missing. It hurt so badly that it was a constant ache, not having her by his side. He had been able to walk and move and work on the raft, when he'd had hope that they were going to rescue her. Now they couldn't even begin to rescue her for a year. And at that point, anything could have happened. He hadn't eaten in a while, but he couldn't muster the will to get up and eat something. He was tired, thirsty, hungry, dirty…and he didn't care about any of it.

He stared dully at the ceiling, not seeing anything.

"Simon Seville."

A sharp, feminine voice rang out from the foot of his bed. He barely mustered the energy to look up at Eleanor. Theodore, Alvin, and Brittany had all tried coaxing and persuading him, but Eleanor hadn't tried before. This was a first. He was too lost in his loss to care.

"You need to knock it off right this minute, Simon," Eleanor scolded, her hands on her hips.

Now Simon was feeling a little surprised. He looked up to stare at her.

She must have seen his expression, because she folded her hands. "We've tried asking nicely and we've tried persuasion. It's not working. Miss Nice Chipmunk is gone. Jeanette is not here, but I know what she would say if she were, so I am going to say it for her." She clenched her paws. "You need to stop moping around. You have to get up and get on with your life."

Simon was staring at her now.

"We all miss Jeanette, Simon. This is hard for all of us. But we're not moping around in our beds for a month. We're doing things. We're moving. We're making an effort, and you have to start making an effort, too. You have to make an effort for her, Simon. She wouldn't want you to just wallow around like this. Jeanette would want you to keep living. You can't just stop living because you miss her, Simon. We all miss her. And there are things that we can do to help. Even here on the ship. So get your furry butt off the bed and start living again."

Simon's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Simon, she loves you." Eleanor's voice was soft and earnest now. "She needs you. And you can help her. Don't you want to help her?"

Simon cleared his throat. "Yes," he said quietly. "But we're on the ship, Ellie. We can't help—,"

"If you VALUE my SANITY, you will not say that we can't help her," Eleanor snapped, putting her hands back on her hips. "We can watch for her. We can make a plan. We can try to contact her. But we need your help. _She _needs your help. So are you coming or what?"

Simon stared at the blanket for a long, long time. Finally, he looked back at Eleanor. There was a spark, a flame that was in his eyes that had been missing for a long, long time.

"Yes," he said, quietly but firmly. "I'm coming."

"That's the Simon that I know," Eleanor said with a smile. "Now, for heaven's sakes, take a shower, change your clothes, get something to eat, and then brush your teeth. Then you're going to take a long nap—good grief, Simon, have you been too tired to SLEEP?" Eleanor critically examined the dark circles underneath her brother's eyes. She shook her head and continued. "Then get your books together—Miss Tutweiler sent you your books—, because we're going to school. And after school is out, we are going to come back here and make a plan. Because I'm not letting Jeanette go without a fight! Are you?"

"No!" Simon yelled. He launched himself off the bed and trotted into the bathroom, where he shut the door and Eleanor heard running water.

She smiled to herself and hopped off the bed to see how Theodore was faring.

Simon was back.


	5. Chapter 5

Zoe brought out Callie's cage. They didn't consider it a cage, though. It was a cat carrier, but it had been completely made over. Now it was like Callie's portable room. Callie had spent forever decorating it. The walls were covered in sparkly pink wallpaper. Then she had pulled in a chipmunk-sized chair, beanbag, and bed just in case they were going overnight somewhere. Zoe had even put in a divider and Callie had installed a door and a small bathroom in the other half of the carrier. Two books were always on their sides leaning against the side of the carrier so that Callie had something to read.

Callie took no notice to the fact that Zoe always shut and locked the cage. She was grateful to it, in fact, because it kept some of her things from sliding out.

Callie, for this trip, had installed some portable speakers and some lights for her performance. She was finishing up her bacon when Zoe flew into the kitchen again like a whirlwind, screaming, "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Callie nearly had a heart attack when she looked at the digital clock on the microwave and saw that they only had five minutes until they were supposed to be on the highway.

"We can make it," Zoe panted. "Come on, quick!"

Callie nearly dove into her carrier, and Zoe quickly closed the front and locked it with the key around her neck. Callie settled back on her beanbag chair and peered anxiously out through the bars as Zoe picked up her carrier and her bag and hurried out to the car. Zoe put her bag and the carrier on the passenger seat and shoved the key into the ignition.

Callie paced for a moment. Finally, she couldn't stand it. She went over to the bars and peered through them. "So…these men are going to seal a deal with me if I can prove to them that I'm good enough?"

"Yes," Zoe told her with a smile. "These are the same people that secured those other chipmunks with the record contract."

Callie was silent for another moment. Then, flipping her red hair over her shoulder, she said quietly, "The other chipmunks…Alvin and the chipmunks, right? And the…the chipettes or whoever?"

"I think so," Zoe said dismissively.

"They haven't been seen for a long, long time, have they?"

"Not for almost two months," Zoe nodded. "They disappeared off of their cruise ship, and no one has found them."

"I wonder if they're all right," Callie wondered quietly.

Zoe smiled down at her as she stopped at a red light. "That's my girl, always caring about others. But I'm sure they're fine. They must have just gotten lost." She shrugged. "I bet they'll be forgotten after you, though." She winked as she pressed down on the gas pedal. "None of those girls remind me of you, to be honest. Brittany is self-centered, Jeanette is really shy and skittish, and Eleanor isn't very talented at all."

Zoe tried not to say Jeanette too fast. She held back a smile. Jeanette was gone. Callie was here now.

"You were much more talented than all of them," Zoe continued. "You're kind and caring, like Brittany, but more adventurous and outgoing than Jeanette was. And you weren't soft and untalented like Eleanor was, either."

Callie fell into silence.

"Not to mention," Zoe added, a twinkle in her eye, "that none of them can do acrobatics like you."

Callie smiled weakly at her adoptive mother and drew back farther into her cage. She flicked on the light—really the top of a flashlight that Zoe had installed that looked like a chandelier—and settled back in her beanbag chair, trying to relax. In her mind, she went over every step of the combination in her mind again and again. She HAD to impress them.

She sighed and turned on her TV, but it did nothing to soothe her nerves. She turned it off after a while and grabbed one of her books. She lost herself in the world of Jane Eyre.

Then she heard Zoe's call almost two hours later.

"Five minutes 'till we're there, Callie. You'd better get dressed and ready, honey."

Callie closed the book and took a deep breath. She headed into the small bathroom to get ready. She looked into the mirror—some glass pried out of the old hand mirror in Zoe's bathroom—and began to get ready. She changed out of her aquamarine skirt and shirt and grabbed the outfit they had prepared. She pulled on the sparkly turquoise gymnastics leotard and aquamarine skirt over it. Then she swept her long auburn hair into a low ponytail, and it hung down her back. She took a deep breath and then pulled on her sparkly turquoise ballet flats. They looked like normal fashionable shoes, but they were actually working just like ballet shoes. They were flexible and stretchy so that she could do her gymnastics.

"Are you ready?" she could hear Zoe whispering at the front of the cage, and she hurried out of the bathroom to the front of the carrier.

"Yes," she nodded. She held up the remote control that was the controls to the music and the lights. She weighed it in her palm for a moment and then tossed it through the bars to Zoe.

Zoe slipped it into her pocket with a reassuring wink. "You're gonna do fine, baby."

Callie smiled weakly as Zoe got into the elevator of the fancy building. Any other day, she would have been peering around at everything, the lush carpets, the ornately decorated walls, but today all she could do was perch on her chair and stare nervously at nothing.

Today was big. Today she would perform in front of the businessmen and ladies that could give her a contract deal that would make her an international superstar—just as big, if not bigger, than the chipmunks.

She had been preparing for so long for this, and it was finally _time! _Time for her to show off exactly what she could do. She had been practicing her gymnastics and her singing for an entire month now, and now she was ready.

Zoe entered the room, holding the cat carrier tighter than usual, perhaps in anticipation. Or nervousness. Callie couldn't tell.

There were several men and women surrounding a very long wooden table. Callie smiled as she saw it. Good. Plenty of room to move.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you ever so much for coming here and seeing us today," Zoe exclaimed charmingly.

"Us?" A lady raised her eyebrow.

"Yes," Zoe beamed, setting Callie's carrier down on the table. She unlocked it and put the key back around her neck. "Ladies and gentlemen, we already know that there are astounding things in the world of music today. But never before have you seen anything like this. May I present to you…Callie!"

She swung the door open. Callie made sure to stay well back in the shadows. The men and women all craned their necks, straining their eyes to see inside.

_Here we go._

Callie waited and waited, just like Zoe had said. Counting to twenty. Just as the ladies and gentlemen were beginning to relax and let their guard down, jump out and stun them. That's what Zoe had taught her.

Just as she spotted them beginning to slump, relax, and fidget ever so slightly, she crouched down and wiggled a little bit.

_Now!_

She did a running start and launched herself out of the cage, doing a double front flip and landing proudly on her little ballet flats, sticking it perfectly.

There were hushed murmurs and gasps from the ladies and gentlemen. She didn't stop there, though. Getting a running start, she did two handsprings, a midair twist, a cartwheel, and three somersaults before springing back to her feet and throwing her hands in the air, sticking her landing perfectly without a single wobble at the very edge of the table right in front of a very astonished-looking man with dark hair and a suit.

She winked at him.

His jaw dropped.

She did backward handsprings all the way back across the table before doing a backflip and sticking the landing in her opening pose just as Zoe hit the button.

Music began to play from the speakers in the carrier, and disco lights flashed around the room. Zoe hurried to turn the main lights off. Then a single spotlight shone on Callie.

And she began to sing, all the while doing dance moves with gymnastics moves woven in to add a little extra _oomph _to it.

**"I threw a wish in the well,**

**Don't ask me, I'll never tell.**

**I looked to you as it fell,**

**And now you're in my way.**

**I trade my soul for a wish,**

**Pennies and dimes for a kiss,**

**I wasn't looking for this,**

**But now it's in my way.**

**Your stare was holding,**

**Ripped jeans, skin was showing,**

**Hot night, wind was blowing,**

**Where d'ya think you're going, baby!**

**Hey, I just met you,**

**And this is cra-zy,**

**But here's my number,**

**So call me maybe!**

**It's hard to look right,**

**At you ba-by,**

**But here's my number,**

**So call me maybe.**

**Hey, I just met you,**

**And this is cra-zy,**

**But here's my number,**

**So call me, maybe!**

**And all the other boys,**

**Try to cha-se me,**

**But here's my number!**

**So call me, maybe!**

She continued on into the second verse, throwing in some cartwheels and handsprings when she felt it was getting too boring. She spun herself and threw herself all over the table just as she had practiced, popping and locking and hitting every dance move perfectly.

Now for the bridge.

She took a deep breath and began to sing, "**Before you came into my life," **and then threw herself into a back handspring. She crouched down on the landing, not missing a beat, and threw herself so high into the air that she soared right over the carrier, twisting and singing, until she landed on the other side without so much as a wobble. She did a cartwheel, a handspring, and two more flips on the second **"So, so bad," **and landed hard with both hands in the air on the edge of the table, staying frozen as the music played, only instrumental for a few beats. All the disco lights were shut off, only the one spotlight shining on Callie still staying where it was. She grinned, giving all the people time to gawk at her before she had to sing again.

**"It's hard to look right,**

** At you ba-by,**

** But here's my number.**

** So call me, maybe!"**

The other disco lights launched into play again and she began to dance as she sang the last chorus with all the heart she had. She spun and leapt and twirled all over the dance floor before going into her last run. She got a running start, still singing the last line of the song, and did two cartwheels before doing a forward handspring and launching herself into the air as the last instrumental notes played. She felt everyone's eyes on her, including Zoe's. Zoe knew what she was doing, and Callie could tell that her adoptive mom was panicking. They had tried this step, but Callie couldn't get the hang of it. She couldn't stick the landing. So they had agreed to take it out and end the song with something simpler.

But Callie couldn't help it. She was so energized with her wonderful routine, so confident in herself, that she couldn't help herself. But now she had to stick this landing, or it would all have been for nothing. She was taking a gamble.

_Come on, focus, _she urged herself as she soared through the air.

She leaned herself forward and did a _quadruple _flip, still soaring through the air as the last notes played, before straightening out, stretching both arms out wide, feeling as though she were flying…and then coming back down to earth, heading straight for…

She landed hard on her carrier as the last note of the music played, and…

_Stick it…stick it…YES!_

She didn't even wobble. She thrust her hands gracefully into the air as the last music faded away and the spotlight shone directly on her, perched on top of her carrier. _I did it! _She shrieked in her mind. _I DID IT!_

She knew better to look at Zoe. She stayed right where she was, holding both her arms in the air as there was complete and utter silence in the room. Then, once she had counted to twenty like she was supposed to, she dropped her arms and curtsied to her audience. She snuck a peek at Zoe, and Zoe's eyes were brimming with so much pride that Callie wanted to burst with happiness.

Zoe flicked a few buttons, and the spotlight and disco lights turned off, and the overhead lights in the room turned back on.

Callie turned slowly in a circle from her spot on her cat-carrier stage. Every single member of the audience looked completely blown away.

"Thank you," she said into the silence in her high, clear soprano, "for taking the time to watch me."

Then she received a nod from Zoe and walked to the edge of her cat carrier. She curtsied again, first to the audience behind her and then to the ladies in gentlemen in front of her, and then she crouched down and did a double front flip off of the top of her cat carrier and landed spotlessly on the table. She turned and walked into her cage, reaching back and shutting the door behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't see anything, do you?" Simon asked as he flipped helplessly through the channels on the one small television.

"Not a thing," Eleanor sighed.

"Well, we'll just have to keep trying tomorrow," she said determinedly. "Now, do you want to have a planning session or a theorizing session? Or do you want to just take a break this afternoon?"

"We did a lot of theorizing yesterday," Simon said out loud. "And we can't plan unless we're done theorizing. But I think my brain needs a break."

"Completely understandable," Eleanor nodded. "We'll do some more thinking tomorrow."

She hopped off the table and scampered out of the rec room.

Simon sighed as he flopped back on the table. They had searched the channels every day to catch any sign of Jeanette. They had theorized about what might have happened to her and what Zoe was planning, and they had planned accordingly on how to rescue her. They were taking steps.

But they were still just baby steps. They were doing everything they could do, but Simon couldn't help the nagging feeling that it just wasn't enough.

He wanted to rescue Jeanette _now. _He wanted to see her, touch her, feel her. He wanted to take her into his arms, feeling her body against his. He wanted to stroke her dark brown hair and look into those beautiful purple eyes…

He wanted her here. He wanted her _home._

_ Well, _he thought sternly to himself, _you'll just have to keep trying, then._

He began to flip through the channels again.

Callie stayed perched on her chair as Zoe thanked the ladies and gentlemen, pride and glee brimming in her voice, and then locked Callie's cage again before picking it up and carrying it out of the room.

There was complete and utter silence until Zoe exited the room. Then they heard excited mutters break out in the room behind them.

"This is big," they heard one man whisper before they stepped into the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, Callie threw herself up against the bars and she and Zoe instantly began to squeal together.

"Did I do it?" Callie gasped, grasping the bars for support. Her legs felt suddenly weak and jelly-like, despite how strong and energized they had felt during her performance. "Oh, Zoe, did I really do it?"

"BABY!" Zoe shrieked, pulling her out of her cage and into an enormous hug. "Oh, baby! Oh, honey, you NAILED IT!" She laughed, and Callie laughed with her. "Callie, you were outstanding! I didn't know you were capable of that!"

Callie blushed and looked modestly down at the ground.

"And your run at the end!" Zoe continued to gush. "We had agreed to take it out because we didn't think you were ready for it yet, but oh, not my baby! You were SPOT ON! Do you KNOW how HARD that routine is? TWO cartwheels, front handspring, a QUADRUPLE FLIP, and STICKING that landing without so much as a wobble! You did it…you did it…oh, yes…you did it…" Zoe was now doing a victory dance around the elevator. Callie giggled and did a few moves from her routine on the floor, joining in with her erratic adoptive mother.

Just then the door slid open.

"Oh!" Callie gasped. She launched herself off the floor and into the cat carrier. Zoe quickly shut it and walked briskly across the lobby. Beforehand, no one had even cast a glance in their direction. Now, though, everyone was murmuring and trying to get a better look. Apparently, they had been told about the amazing performance upstairs, and everyone was trying to see who had done it. Callie stayed in the shadows, roaring with laughter on the inside as everyone craned their necks to try to see her. _Her._

She could barely believe it. She hugged herself with glee. As Zoe got into the car and began to back out, only one thought was in Callie's head.

_I did it._

"Is he all right?"

The question slipped almost silently from Brittany as she stepped into the room, but Eleanor heard it.

She shook her head sadly. "He's not getting any better."

"I wish he would stop tearing himself up over it," Brittany moaned as she followed Eleanor to the girls' bed. "Honestly, it isn't his fault. None of it is."

"I know," Eleanor said quietly. "It's a classic after-effect from shock. Blaming yourself for what happened, even if you know inside that it wasn't you." She nodded wisely. "It happens often, from what I've been told."

Brittany sighed and cast a sad look over at Alvin, who was sprawled out on the bed.

"Did Theodore talk to him?" she asked in a whisper.

"No, Theodore was waiting to see if I needed backup with Simon," Eleanor whispered back. "Theo's in school right now, and—,"

"Wait, school?" Brittany interrupted. "School just let out a few minutes ago. Why is he still there? Does he have a detention or something?"

"No, he missed German yesterday and he has to catch up," Eleanor explained.

Brittany nodded in understanding. Each chipmunk pair was taking a different language. Ellie and Theo were taking German, Brittany and Alvin were taking Spanish, and Simon was taking French.

Eleanor was proud of how Simon seemed to have turned around. He went from a lifeless, smelly lump on the bed to the active, determined, and definitely more hygienic Simon that they all knew. He worked hard in school every day, getting even better grades than Cody and Bailey did (and they were the smartest two on board). After school, he was in the rec room, planning and strategizing, reading fat books and drawing and writing in his notepad, checking the computer and the Internet for signs of Jeanette, and constantly flipping through channels so much that it was background noise for whatever else he was doing. Eleanor was so proud of her brother that she thought she might burst.

However, she was a bit curious about this French thing. She hadn't thought Simon was going to take a language this year. He didn't have a particular interest in learning another language, definitely not French. She would have expected Chinese, if anything. But he threw himself into his studies of the French textbook just as vigorously as his other subjects. Eleanor ventured up the courage to ask him one day why he was taking French.

"Jeanette has always wanted to learn," he said firmly. "She's told me so thousands of times. So we can learn it together when we get her back."

"She'll be behind the rest of us, though," Eleanor pointed out worriedly, distracted for a moment—she hadn't thought of that.

"That's why I'm taking it," Simon explained. "I'll be able to tutor her after class, and she should catch up in a month or two. She's very smart, and she's only missing a year."

A shadow crossed his face, and he turned back to the computer and searched the Internet again, reaching out with one foot to the TV remote and changing the channel every few seconds.

Eleanor smiled to herself and quietly slipped out of the room after examining the television and the computer screen over Simon's shoulder to make sure there was nothing new.

Alvin, however, hadn't been to school since he had run out that day. He thought that what had happened to Jeanette was his fault, and he barely did anything anymore. At first, it hadn't been so bad, but gradually, he was replacing Simon as the lifeless, smelly lump on the bed.

Eleanor breathed in as she passed Alvin on her way out and instantly regretted it—her nose wrinkled as she coughed once and held her breath. When was the last time he had taken a BATH?

The sense of déjà vu was so powerful that it almost knocked her over. It was Simon all over again.

They had to fix this.

She ran to find Theodore.

Callie paced.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

What was she going to _do?_

How on earth would she suffer the humiliation if they didn't agree? They'd hated her. She just knew it.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

They weren't going to do it. She would be doomed. And Zoe! Zoe would be so disappointed…

Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

And then what would she do with her life after that? How would she survive? How would she keep on going?

Back and forth.

It was all she could do not to scream.

The telephone rang.

Callie did scream, jumping in the air. "ZOE!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, but Zoe was already diving into the kitchen to grab the phone. She yanked it out of its cradle and pressed it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice calm and under control.

A pause.

"Yes, this is."

Another pause.

"Oh, hello, sir."

Callie gnawed anxiously on her nails.

"Yes," Zoe said, "we did. Yes. Yes, I remember."

There was another long silence.

"Yes, sir," Zoe said with a clear hint of pride in her voice, "she is something special, isn't she?"

Callie beamed.

There was another pause. Zoe froze. Then she quickly turned away from Callie, her shoulders hunched.

Callie felt her insides freeze.

"Oh," Zoe said.

Her voice was completely neutral.

Callie's teeth almost started chattering.

"Oh, I see."

Pause.

"Yes. Yes, we will."

Pause.

"Thank you so much for calling, sir."

Pause.

"Yes, we can."

Pause.

"All right, then. Thank you. Yes. You, too."

She hung up and turned to face Callie. Her face was drawn and pinched.

Callie knew that look.

They had said no.

She stared at Zoe in horror.

"Callie," Zoe began, taking a deep breath.

Then her face split into an enormous grin.

"WE GOT THE DEAL!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Callie's mouth dropped open as her adoptive mom danced around the kitchen in what seemed to be a victory dance.

"We WHAT?" Callie gasped, and then it sank in.

She had done it! They got the deal! The men and ladies had been impressed by her. She was going to be a superstar!

She let out a shriek of delight and did three back handsprings, a backward twist, a roundoff, and three flips before landing in the splits, throwing both hands in the air. She did a handspring, flipped, and landed back on her paws. Then she began to dance around the kitchen with her mother, not choreographing it at all, just being happy.

She hugged herself in delight.

_I'm going to be a superstar._

"Alvin?"

Alvin looked up and saw Theodore standing at the end of the bed with a sympathetic look.

"Hey, Theo," he said quietly.

"Alvin," Theodore said sternly, "what happened to Jeanette was not your fault."

"Theo, listen," Alvin said, exasperated. "I—,"

"No, _you _listen," Theodore snapped, and Alvin immediately shut up, not used to hearing his brother speak like that. "You were being an idiot on the ship, sure. But then when we were shipwrecked, you worked hard to save everyone. What happened to Jeanette was _Zoe's _fault. You had nothing to do with it. You were trying to get us all out of here! You were trying to get Zoe out of here, too. You would have saved her. And you and Brit even went after her, and it wasn't your fault that she smashed the log bridge. You're blaming yourself for something that is not your fault, and this is common in a trauma. But you have to stop it now. And if you're not listening to a word I'm saying, and if you still think that it's your fault, you can make things better by helping us find Jeanette again. You can help us look for her on the Internet and on television, Alvin, and you can help all of us by giving us our brother back. Brittany is worried sick about you, did you know that?"

Alvin peeked up at him with one amber eye. "_Brittany _is worried about _me?" _he asked skeptically.

"Yes, she is," Theodore said firmly. "You haven't moved in three days. You must be starving!"

A loud rumble from Alvin's stomach enunciated Theodore's words.

Alvin thought for a long time. He finally heaved himself off the bed and ran to the door.

"Where are you going?" Theodore called after Alvin, confused.

"I'm gonna go raid the kitchens," Alvin called with a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe they've got some bacon leftover from breakfast."

With a cackle, he darted out of the room.

Theodore smiled to himself as he ran to tell Eleanor and Brittany the good news. Alvin was back. They were all a family again. Now the only one missing was Jeanette.


	7. Chapter 7

_**One Month Later**_

"Is her speaker on?" Zoe yelled as everyone dashed and sprinted around backstage. She pressed on her earpiece. "Yes, that's fine," she said into it, and then she looked down at a girl holding up a light.

"No!" she yelled at the girl. "Not red. I told you that I wanted a strobe light!" She shook her head in disgust as the girl scurried off, ducking her head.

"And WHERE is Callie?" Zoe bellowed, looking around.

"She's in her dressing room, ma'am," a lady holding a clipboard called.

"Of course she is," Zoe muttered. "SOMEONE GET CALLIE SOME WATER!" she bellowed.

Then she hurried off to her daughter's dressing room. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a smile onto her face before pushing the door open.

Callie was perched on a stool in front of the mirror and was holding a lock of hair in her hand and frowning.

The ends were turning chocolate brown…

"Oh!" Zoe gasped without thinking.

Callie turned around, her purple eyes wide with panic. "Zoe," she wailed. "My hair!"

"I know, sweetie, I know," Zoe gasped. She fumbled for her purse. "I'm so sorry, Callie, I thought you weren't due for another shot until tomorrow!"

"Zoe, please hurry," Callie begged. "My hair always starts to turn brown when the venom is spreading!"

"I know, pumpkin. Quick, hold out your leg."

Callie stuck her leg out.

Zoe pulled a syringe out of her purse with a liquid inside. Callie thought that it was an antidote to the venom that was constantly in her system. Zoe had told her that there was no way to get it out, so she had to take a shot once a month. Zoe lied and told her that the venom was spreading because her hair was turning brown, but she panicked every time because it was really just Callie changing back to Jeanette.

Really, the liquid was spider venom. She injected it into Callie once a month, and Callie stayed Callie and didn't become Jeanette again.

"Hurry," Callie begged.

Zoe gently took one of her legs and injected the needle into it. She pushed down on the plunger.

There was a WHOOSH, and her hair instantly grew itself back out and turned back to the brilliant deep red that she knew. Callie sighed in relief, feeling better already.

"Here's your water," a small, chirpy voice said.

They both whirled and saw a tall chipmunk standing at the door and holding a water bottle. He dropped it in surprise.

"What is THAT?" he asked, gesturing to the needle that Zoe had just pulled out of Callie's leg.

"None of your business, that's what it is," Zoe snapped at him. "You weren't hired to ask questions, Adam, you were hired to do what you're told. Now quick, give me the water and get out of here."

"Zoe, it's okay," Callie said quietly. She looked at the chipmunk. Adam.

"Thank you," she murmured, hopping off the table to get the water bottle. She was already in her outfit for the concert, a strapless turquoise dress covered in sequins. Her hair was pulled up into a low ponytail, and there was a small, sparkling, silver tiara in it.

Adam blinked once, and then again. He stared at her, his mouth hanging wide open.

She giggled softly and tugged the water out of his grasp.

Then the moment was ruined as Zoe screeched, "Baby, you're on in two minutes!"

"Oh!" Callie gasped. She quickly gulped down the water and ran back to the table to re-apply her lipstick. Then she jumped off the table and scampered out of the room. "Nice to meet you, Adam!" she called over her shoulder as she ran off with Zoe close behind.

Adam stared after her, pushing a lock of his hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Good to meet you, too."

Callie finished her song by striking a pose as the onstage fireworks exploded around her, and the audience leapt to their feet. They were whistling, whooping, cheering, screaming…for her!

She laughed with exultation, and then laughed again. She took a bow, and then another. They still stood, clapping and cheering. She got a standing ovation!

Finally, the curtain went down, and she sprinted backstage, only to be embraced by Zoe.

"You NAILED it!" Zoe screamed. "Oh, honey. Your first concert EVER, and you couldn't have done better! Now hurry, we have to go meet your fans."

After the concert, Callie went outside. Immediately, cameras began flashing and the reporters began shouting. Fans were screaming, and a big spotlight shone right on Callie.

Everyone cheered for her.

Callie signed autographs, shook hands with fans, answered questions from reporters, and posed for pictures for hours. Finally, Zoe stepped forward and took the microphone from Callie, who had been answering a question from a reporter.

"Callie, say goodnight, we have to get home," Zoe whispered.

Callie nodded, a bit relieved. She was exhausted.

"Can I borrow this microphone?" she asked the reporter. He nodded, and she stepped back up to the doors, where the spotlight shone directly on her again.

"All right, everyone!" she yelled into the microphone, and everyone instantly quieted down. There were lots of photographs. "Thank you all so much for your support, guys and girls. This was my first concert ever, and I've had a ton of fun. You guys are all so amazing, and I'm so thankful to you! Goodnight, everyone!"

She handed the microphone back to the reporter, who tried to ask her one more question, but she ignored him and stepped back into the stage.

"All right, let's get home," Zoe whispered to Callie. Callie nodded.

They opened the side door and made their way through the crowds, reporters, cameras, and fans to get to the limo. Callie squeezed in, grateful for the tinted windows, and Zoe stepped in after her.

Then the limo took off.

They finally reached their quiet home and went inside. Callie was grateful for the soothing darkness and quiet on the way home.

"The life of a star is glamorous," she said to herself with a sigh, "but it can be tiring, too." She shrugged. "I'd better get used to it, anyway."

She scampered inside with Zoe. They talked for a while, about how much fun it had been, how tired they were, how wonderful Callie had been, and what things they could do better next time. Then Callie scampered upstairs. She rubbed all of the makeup off her face and removed the tiara and dress. She got into her pajamas and crawled into bed.

She tossed and turned, but she found that she was too hyped up to sleep.

She sighed. She didn't know what the problem was. She had her first concert, and she had enjoyed it immensely. So what was this aching, hollow feeling inside her middle?

Then she thought of Adam, and she realized what it was.

She was lonely.

Callie didn't have a single friend. She had Zoe, sure, but Zoe wasn't always around. Zoe was just like a mom to her. Callie wanted a friend, a real friend her own age, a chipmunk friend or a human friend. She wanted someone to talk to.

She sighed and clambered out of bed. She changed into one of her favorite dresses. It was a light turquoise color, like the sea. It was strapless, and the folds of the fabric were softer than silk. She pulled it on and scampered quietly outside.

Outside, she climbed up her favorite maple tree and rested on a branch, looking out into the starry night.

She sighed and began to softly sing to herself.

She didn't know, however, that Adam the chipmunk lived with his guardian right next door, and he had been lying awake thinking of her.

_She was so beautiful, _he thought to himself. _I'll probably never see her again. I'm…I'm lonely. I want someone to talk to. I want a friend…I want to love her. But I'll never see her again. I don't know who she is or where she lives._

A single tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered the chipmunk. He hopped out of bed and scampered outside.

He was just walking around his bed when he heard someone singing.

The voice was high, sweet, and clear, and it carried softly over the night out to him. It seemed to be coming from the tree next door.

He quietly scampered across his yard into the next one and climbed up the tree without making a noise. He perched on a branch beneath the voice, and then slowly looked up to see who it was.

It was her!

She was sitting on the branch, her back legs dangling down over it. The dress seemed to hug her body, softly flowing over the curves and angles and making her look absolutely gorgeous. A slight breeze ruffled her hair, which hung swinging and glorious down to her waist. Her purple eyes seemed to twinkle and sparkle as she leaned back to look at the moon as she sang.

She was utterly, heartbreakingly gorgeous.

Then he heard her singing softly.

_Na na na na,_

_ Na na na na, yeah._

_ You are the music in me…_

_ You know the words 'once upon a time,'_

_ Make you listen,_

_ There's a reason._

_ When you dream, there's a chance you'll find,_

_ A little laughter,_

_ Or happy ever after…_

She sang so beautifully, and it was so full of emotion, that Adam suddenly realized the truth—this gorgeous chipmunk was just as lonely as he was.

He had never told anyone, but he was really very good at singing, too. And as her music filled him up to the brim with pure happiness, he couldn't help but sing along with her.

_"Your harmony," _he joined in, and she let out a gasp and jumped as he crept slowly onto her branch. He kept singing. _"To the melody, is echoing inside my head…"_

She began to sing again, uncertainly at first and then stronger as they both gained confidence together.

Callie: A single voice, above the noise.

Both: Like a common thread…

Adam: Mm, you're pullin' me.

Callie: When I hear my favorite song, I know that we belong.

Adam: Oh, you are the music in me. Yeah, it's living in all of us.

Callie: And it's brought us here because,

Both: Because you are the music in me!

Na na na na,

Na na na na, yeah.

You are the music in me!

They were both singing on the branch together now, their voices carrying out into the darkness with expressions of happiness and bliss.

Zoe stepped outside and listened hard.

She smiled.

"I think that we've found a way to solve your loneliness problem, Callie," she whispered to herself, "and get you more famous at the same time."

She knew that her daughter had been feeling lonely. She felt like she knew Callie more than Callie did sometimes. And she truly cared for Callie, in ways that she had never cared for Jeanette. She wanted Callie to be happy.

And now she knew how to do it.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Two Months Later**_

"GUYS!"

Eleanor's yell brought everyone running.

Simon raced from the computer that he had been searching. Alvin and Brittany ran from where they had been playing fuseball in the corner. Theodore dashed from where he had been eating a cookie on the counter (bringing his cookie with him, of course).

They all joined Eleanor on the counter, the station where someone was always checking the television.

Wordlessly, she pointed to the TV.

They gaped in astonishment.

Onscreen, two chipmunks were dancing and singing together on a big stage. There was a cheering audience in the background as they spun and twirled, singing their hearts out.

"TURN IT UP!" everyone yelled at the same time, causing Eleanor to jump and quickly stab the volume button several times.

"Well," the announcer was saying, "young superstar Calissa Scott, known to the world as Callie, has certainly risen fast in the world of the superstars."

"Yes," the other announcer agreed as Callie did a triple backflip and stuck the landing perfectly. "She's certainly a very talented young chipmunk. Her counterpart Adam Turner is certainly helping matters. He's very talented as well." The screen zoomed in on the male chipmunk, who was wearing a dark orange shirt with a black vest over it. He was dancing and singing with Callie, grinning at her. She spun into his arms, and he threw her high into the air, where she twirled gracefully several times before coming back down to land in his arms. She did a somersault forward and a back handspring right into his arms again. He dipped her low, and then twirled her around.

"Some people are even saying that Callie and Adam may be the biggest thing since the chipmunks and the chipettes," the announcer was saying.

All the chipmunks bristled at that.

"And there is still no sign of the chipmunks or the chipettes?" the second announcer asked.

"No, John. They went missing off their cruise ship several months back and still have not been heard of."

"Well," the second announcer chuckled, "if they're still out there, they might want to make it back quickly…because it looks like they might be being replaced!"

The camera panned to show the fans. All of them were leaning over the roped-off barrier in front of the stage, screaming things like "I LOVE YOU, ADAM!" and "CALLIE, YOU'RE AMAZING!"

Then a commercial came on.

The chipmunks, Brittany, and Eleanor all stared at one another wordlessly.

"Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" Alvin asked, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms across his chest. "When these new two chipmunks pop up just as Jeanette gets kidnapped and vanishes?"

"I don't think this is a coincidence," Brittany agreed to his implication.

"But…where's Jeanette, then?" Simon asked, frustrated. "That still doesn't answer our question."

Just then, the showing of the concert showed up again, and the camera zoomed in very closely on Callie.

Simon gasped and nearly fell off his chair. "LOOK!" he yelled, pointing.

Everyone stared, and then Brittany and Eleanor gasped as they saw what he meant.

"What?" Alvin asked finally.

"Look at her eyes," Simon said flatly.

They peered closely.

The eyes didn't have glasses. But the irises were the same vibrant, rich purple that they all knew belonged to Jeanette.

Another commercial came on as they digested this new piece of information.

"Coincidence?" Theodore suggested meekly.

"No way," Brittany said, shaking her head vehemently. "Those are Jeanette's eyes. I would know them anymore. The question is…what are THEY doing on CALISSA?"

"Britt, calm down," Alvin said, putting a paw on her shoulder.

Then Simon let out a gasp as comprehension dawned in his eyes.

"I'VE GOT IT!" he yelled, and then he scampered off to his computer.

He typed frantically into the search bar and began to scroll down through the links. He clicked on one that looked promising. After reading for several minutes, he smiled to himself and began to take notes.

Just has he had suspected.

"What is it, Simon?" Eleanor asked softly, coming up behind him.

He grinned and grabbed the notepad that he had been taking notes on and the computer. He dragged them both back over to the others. Proudly, he displayed the screen.

"That looks like…" Brittany's eyes widened. "That spider! The one that bit you on the island. The one that changed you into Simone…"

Their eyes all widened as comprehension dawned.

"OHMIGOSH!" Eleanor shrieked. "JEANETTE GOT BITTEN BY A SPIDER?"

"Wait," Theodore frowned. "That doesn't make sense. You're saying that Jeanette could have gotten turned into…Callie?"

Simon nodded.

"But…I mean…that venom made you act totally different, right?"

Simon nodded.

"And that part makes sense, because Callie and Jeanette act nothing alike. But aside from their eyes, they don't LOOK anything alike, either!"

He pointed at the television, where they were showing Callie and Adam taking pictures and signing autographs.

"Theo's right," Eleanor sighed, slumping dejectedly. "Jeanette's fur is brown, and it's short. And her nails aren't that long. Callie's fur is red, and it goes all the way down to her waist. And her nails are longer. Plus, Callie doesn't wear glasses, and she doesn't dress the same way as Jeanette, either."

"That's what I thought at first, too," Simon added. "But listen to this." He read it from the website. "When in the case of a female, if the person in question is bitten, the female's appearance may change as much as her personality does. Perhaps she will be taller or shorter, or a change in the senses such as hearing or _eyesight_—," He gave them a meaningful look and continued. "—or _longer or different-colored hair."_

They all paused to let this sink in.

"That means," Simon added, "theoretically, if Jeanette got bitten by a spider, then she might hear better all of a sudden, or have different fur…or might not need glasses anymore."

"So that means that Callie…" Brittany started.

"Is really…" Eleanor continued.

"…Jeanette?" Theodore finished in a quiet voice.

Simon looked solemn.

"I think so," he said.

Brittany gritted her teeth.

"All right, then," she said in a very determined voice. "Once we get off of this boat, we know where we're going."

The chipmunks and chipettes nodded, each one looking determined.

Simon and Alvin were back. They had a game plan. They knew what they were doing.

No matter what, they were going after Jeanette.

_**One Year Later**_

"We are approaching America."

That was all Moesby had to say to bring loud cheers from all the chipmunks and the remaining chipettes. They had packed their luggage the day before when Moesby had announced a week ago that they would be in the United States soon.

"Oh, Zoe is totally going to get it," Brittany vented. "She's letting spiders bite my sister. She's got to be insane."

"She WAS on an island for ten years, with no one to talk to but a basketball," Eleanor pointed out. "That's bound to do SOMETHING to you."

"I don't care," Brittany snarled as she dragged her suitcases out the door of the cabin. "She's still totally going to get it." She stopped and gave her sister a meaningful look. "Besides, if she doesn't get it from me, then she'll definitely be getting it from Simon. Have you seen him lately?"

Eleanor nodded. "He's been more and more furious ever since we found out what happened to Jeanette."

"And that was almost a year ago," Brittany sighed as she and Eleanor scampered out of their cabin with their bags in tow. "To be honest, I think that he's jealous of that Adam guy."

"Well, we both know that Jeanette doesn't love Adam, regardless of whether or not Callie does," Eleanor pointed out.

"That's a fair point," Brittany conceded. "But Simon isn't going to see it that way."

"Yeah," Eleanor mumbled, tugging her green suitcase back on deck.

There were lots of goodbyes to be said, which was hard for the chipmunks, Brittany, and Eleanor. They had become pretty good friends with all the kids on deck. Alvin and Zack got along together very well. Cody and Simon were good friends. London and Brittany, surprisingly, had hit it off well. Bailey and Eleanor talked a lot. And they were all pretty good friends with Woody and Marcus.

"Well, you chipmunks make sure that you keep up with your education once you get off the boat," Miss Tutweiler told them, shaking a finger.

"I hope you've enjoyed your stay on the Tipton," was Mr. Moesby's pompous goodbye.

"Well, see you guys," Zack said, giving them all hugs as best as he could. "It's been fun, huh?"

"You should definitely get that new calculator that just came out," Cody was saying earnestly to Simon. "It will definitely help with your math."

"I'll look for you on the magazine covers," Brittany and London promised each other at the exact same time.

"I hope you guys find your sister," Bailey said kindly.

"Make sure you eat a lot of food for me," Woody called from where he was at the buffet.

"Hey, I'll be listening to your music," Marcus told them happily. "You guys rock."

So, with that, the chipmunks said goodbye to all their new friends and left the ship with Dave.

"We have to get a plane back home first," Dave told them. "Then we need to get a plane over to Florida so that we can get Jeanette back."

And that's exactly what they did. They arrived in Florida the following night and stayed at a hotel.

"I've booked tickets back home," Dave told them after their second night. "So all we need to do is get Callie and bring her home. Simon, have you perfected the venom cure?"

"Yes," Simon nodded. "We just have to get her home to my lab and I can inject her with it."

"That's good," Dave said in relief. "We'll have Jeanette back right away."

"We're down the street from her house," Brittany whispered. "All right. Do you have the cat carrier, Simon?"

Simon nodded and pointed to the bushes. "It's in the bushes," he whispered.

"Okay," Brittany whispered. "Positions, everyone."

The chipmunks had changed their signature outfits to black jackets and hats. The girls were both wearing strapless black dresses and leggings.

Just then, the limousine pulled up. The door opened and Zoe stepped out. The chipmunks all hissed in synchronization.

She was holding a cat carrier, and she held it up to her face. "Callie, baby, you did AWESOME tonight," she cooed.

"Thanks, Zoe," a happy voice they recognized from television chirped.

Callie. Jeanette. Callie.

"Let's get you to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow," Zoe told her, going into the house.

"With Adam?" The pleasure in Callie's voice was undisguised.

"Yes, with Adam," Zoe laughed. They stepped into the house and they heard the lock click behind them.

"We have to wait," Simon whispered, peering through the window. He saw, in astonishment, Zoe move aside the staircase to reveal the entrance to her lab. She went down into it.

"Okay, fifteen minutes," Alvin whispered.

Fifteen minutes later, Simon got his grapple hook. He threw it up at the roof and heard a clang. He tugged it a few times, and then climbed up.

He got to the roof and slid down the chimney. Luckily, there wasn't a fire lit at the bottom. He crept to the door and unlocked it, and the other chipmunks snuck in.

They all silently went upstairs and opened the door on the right. There was a single bed pressed up against the wall, and they saw Callie curled up in it, asleep.

Simon's heart skipped a beat and began thrumming faster and faster. He felt something humming in the air, a connection, between him and the chipette on the bed. He felt like something was tugging him toward her, and he knew that his heart recognized that it was his love just a few feet away, even if his mind didn't know it.

He crept closer and reached out to grab Callie, but her eyes fluttered open.

His breath caught in his throat at seeing those vibrant purple irises just inches away from his own.

Those eyes.

Those are her eyes, he thought.

"Simon, grab her now!" Brittany hissed.

"Wh—who are you?" Callie demanded, sitting upright.

Simon felt frozen.

"This is a waste of time," Alvin snarled. He pushed past Simon, grabbed Callie by the arm, and yanked her from the bed.

"Ouch! Hey, let go! What are you doing?" Callie wriggled as hard as she could. Alvin almost lost his grip on her, but Theodore darted forward and grabbed her other arm. They quickly pulled her from the room.

"Let go of me! Let go! ZOE! ZOE!" she screamed. Alvin quickly clamped his paw down over her mouth as they hustled her out the front door.

Adam was sitting in the maple tree like he did every night, waiting for Callie to come out. Every night, they snuck out to meet in the maple tree and talk. Sometimes, they sang.

He heard the front door open, and he smiled to himself, waiting for Callie to call a greeting.

Nothing happened.

He heard rustling from beneath, like someone was struggling, and he heard muffled cries from beneath.

He looked down and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Callie was being yanked across her yard, pulled by two dark figures. Two other figures were scampering ahead of them, and one taller figure was behind them.

Callie looked up and saw Adam. One of the figures holding her had his paw over her mouth, but she managed to wriggle free.

"ADAM!" she shrieked, struggling with all her might. "ADAM, HELP ME!"

The figures looked up and saw Adam.

"Gosh dang it, there's another one!" one of the figures holding her yelled, and Adam started at the squeakiness of his voice. The figures kidnapping Callie were chipmunks, too?

"Let go of her!" he yelled, shaking off his surprise and jumping down.

He sprang towards Callie, who was being pulled into the bushes by the two figures. But the other two figures, the ones who had been in front, were there in an instant, blocking his path.

He started, realizing that they were female chipmunks.

"Give her back!" he demanded.

"Not today," the taller one hissed, and then her foot shot out toward his face.

He heard a sickening thud, and then he felt pain in his head as he fell to the ground and blacked out.

"We want our sister back, you bastard!" the shorter one snarled, and they whirled and disappeared into the bushes in a flash.

Callie saw the cat carrier and before she knew what was happening, the figures holding her had pushed her into it and locked the door.

She hammered on the bars. "Let me out!" she screamed.

All five of the figures surrounded the cat carrier and lifted it.

"Dave's got a car just down the street!" one of the figures gasped as they carried the cat carrier out of the bushes and down the lawn as fast as they could. Callie pressed her face up against the bars and screamed, "HELP! HELP ME!"

Then she saw Adam, motionless on the ground, and let out a shriek.

The door burst open and Zoe ran out. "Callie?" she called. "Callie, where are you?"

"ZOE! I'M HERE! ZOE!" Callie was screaming and sobbing now.

Zoe saw the cat carrier wobbling across the yard, and saw Adam motionless on the ground several yards away.

"LET GO OF HER!" she screamed.

Suddenly, one of the figures dropped the carrier and dashed toward Zoe. The other four quickly regrouped underneath it and kept carrying it down the sidewalk.

Zoe stared down at the small figure, and then he stepped into the light from the streetlamp. She let out a gasp.

"You," she hissed. _"You."_

"Me," Simon said grimly.

Zoe made a move to get around him, but he leapt at her face, scratching her with his claws, and she fell back.

The cat carrier disappeared around the corner.

"NO!" she yelled. "You're stealing her!"

Simon stood his ground and glared ferociously at her. "WE'RE stealing her? WE are? YOU stole her," he snarled. "YOU stole her from US. We're only taking her back."

"I see the venom wore off," she jeered at him. "I must say, I liked you better as Simone. I think Jeanette did, too."

"SHUT UP!" Simon yelled, scratching her again.

"NEVER!" Zoe yelled back. "You're kidnapping my baby."

He laughed without humor. "She's not your baby, you idiot, whatever you might think. YOU kidnapped her. You took her away from us. We're not kidnapping her. We're only taking back what's ours."

He whirled and dashed off after the cat carrier.

Zoe tried to get to her feet, but the world spun from all the scratches she'd gotten.

_Focus! _She screamed at herself. She managed to stumble to her feet.

Simon dashed around the corner and saw Brittany, Eleanor, Alvin, and Theodore loading the cat carrier into the van.

"Zoe's coming!" Simon yelled as he caught up to them. They quickly pushed the cat carrier, with Callie still trapped inside, into the van, and Simon quickly boosted Theodore and Eleanor into the van after her.

"ZOE?" Brittany snarled. She hadn't seen Zoe come outside. "Oh, that is IT. I'm gonna give her a PIECE OF MY MIND!"

"Britt, get in the van NOW!" Alvin yelled.

"NO!" she yelled back, running down the sidewalk back toward Zoe.

Before she could even take two steps, Alvin had grabbed her around the middle and fairly THROWN her into the van. He sprang in after her and slammed the door shut before she could jump out again.

Zoe raced around the corner at that moment, looking livid. Adam was by her side. He had finally regained consciousness, and was now looking very panicked.

But they were too late. The last thing they saw was a dark van speeding off into the night.

"It's no use," Zoe panted. "We'll never catch up to them now."

"They took her!" Adam sobbed, slumping to the sidewalk.

Zoe gritted her teeth and tried to remember. There had been something sticking out of Simon's jacket pocket. A ticket? Yes! A ticket. But to where?

Zoe pushed her memory harder, sharpening it, trying to remember. And there it was, in a flash. Her eyes popped open.

"Don't worry, Adam," she said through gritted teeth. "We'll get her back. Because I know where they're going."

She turned and began to run back to the house. "Pack your things," she called over her shoulder in a determined tone of voice. "We're going to the airport."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Three Days Later**_

__"We're home," Dave called. "At last!"

Callie had given up trying to talk to her captors. She just sat shivering in the corner of the cat carrier. The walls were blank and cold. Nothing like her cat carrier at home. She looked through the bars, the full moon reflected in her large purple eyes as the chipmunks and the man that held her cat carrier—Dave, they called him—hurried up the front walk and into the house.

She blinked and crawled forward slightly to peer through the bars of the carrier. She saw the interior of the house and blinked again. Something was…familiar about this house. Something was familiar about the people who had kidnapped her, too.

"Simon, we have to do this quickly, just in case the media shows up. Or Zoe." Dave carried the cat carrier into the house and set it on the floor.

"Are you going to let me out now?" Callie asked in a small voice.

The chipmunks exchanged glances.

"Only if you promise not to run away," Alvin said finally, uncharacteristically gentle.

Callie nodded.

Simon carefully opened the cat carrier.

_Now!_

Callie burst out of it and streaked for the door.

"She's getting away!" Eleanor shouted.

Dave barely managed to get to the door first and slam it shut, locking it.

Callie skidded to a halt.

Brittany made a grab for her, but Callie crouched down and flipped over Brittany, leaving her sprawling in the dust. Eleanor lunged next, but Callie did three back handsprings and soared through the air, landing on the banister and sliding all the way down. She dodged Simon, did a somersault, a triple front flip, and soared through the air.

"GRAB HER!" Brittany screamed, jumping for her. Callie landed several feet in front of Brittany and looked frantically for a way out.

_The window!_

It was open! If she could just get to the sofa, then she could jump out!

She veered to the left, avoiding Simon's lunge, and ran as fast as she could on all fours toward the sofa.

Suddenly, something hard slammed into her. Alvin had tackled her from behind. He pinned her firmly to the ground.

"Let go of me!" Callie snarled, struggling to get free, but he held her where she was.

"Dave, get the window," he called.

Dave hurried over and shut and locked the window.

Alvin shook his head. "Dang, you're good," he told Callie. "You almost got away."

She glared at him. "Get off of me," she spat.

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "You're just going to run away again."

"Good job, Alvin," Brittany called, struggling to her feet and helping Eleanor get up as well.

Unknown to the Sevilles, Zoe and Adam had been on the plane with them. They had followed them all the way back home to their house, and now they were in a van just down the street.

"Ready?" Zoe whispered to Adam.

He nodded determinedly. "Let's get Callie back," he murmured.

They both crawled out of the van and hurried down the street. Adam jumped onto the windowsill and peered in. What he saw almost made his heart stop. Callie! She was free!

She was running around the house. All the figures kept making grabs for her, but she used her gymnastics to get away from them. Adam felt a surge of pride. _That's my girl, _he thought.

Then she veered and headed for the window.

He saw a red blur streaking behind her, and he wanted to shout a warning, but the blur hit her and knocked her to the floor before he could. Then he saw that it was one of the chipmunks, holding her down.

"Dave, get the window," he called.

Adam quickly dove into the house through the window and dropped behind the sofa before he knew what he was doing. He heard Zoe behind him in the darkness hiss his name, but he couldn't help himself. He had to get in there and save her!

Dave hurried to the window and closed it. Now Adam was trapped inside the house, too.

"Dang, girl, you're good," the chipmunk on top of Callie said admiringly. "You almost got away."

Adam gritted his teeth and tried very hard not to scream.

Callie glowered at the chipmunk. "Get off of me," she snarled.

"Nope," he told her. "You'll just run away again."

"Good job, Alvin," the girl dressed in pink called as she got to her feet and helped the others up.

"We have to get her into the lab, fast, or she might get away again," the blue-clad chipmunk with glasses said, hurrying over.

_They were going to experiment on her!_

Adam felt fury surge through him, hard and hot. Before he knew what he was doing, he had sprang from his hiding place and slammed into Alvin as hard as he could.

Alvin, taken by surprise, was thrown off of Callie, and Adam knocked him to the floor.

"Adam?" Callie cried in shock.

"CALLIE, RUN!" Adam shouted, still wrestling with Alvin. "ZOE'S OUTSIDE! GO! HURRY!"

Callie jumped to her feet.

"NO!" the pink-clad chipette screamed.

Callie sprang to her feet and began to run for the door.

Simon tried to go after Callie, but he couldn't catch up with her.

Just then, they all heard a shout and they looked up.

Eleanor was on the table, holding a long stretch of rope. The end was tied in a circle. She whipped it over her head and threw it at Callie as hard as she could. The lasso soared through the air and fell over Callie's middle. Eleanor yanked back on it, hard, and it tightened around Callie, pinning her arms to her sides and stopping her in her tracks. Callie fell to the floor just as Alvin managed to shove Adam off of him and pin him down.

"Adam!" Callie cried, struggling against the rope with all her might.

"Ellie!" Brittany cried in shock. "Where on earth did you learn how to do that?"

"I picked up a few things on the island," Ellie said with a modest shrug.

Just then, there was a scraping sound, and the door burst open.

Zoe was standing there.

"ZOE!" everyone screamed.

Zoe saw Callie tied up and Adam pinned to the ground, and her lip curled.

"Zoe, help!" Callie screamed.

"I'm coming, Callie!" Zoe cried.

She ran for the chipmunk.

Suddenly, Dave got in the way and crashed into Zoe before she could get there.

"SIMON, GET THE CURE INTO HER NOW!" Dave yelled.

Simon sprang up onto the table and grabbed the end of the rope from Ellie. He yanked Callie down the stairs after him with the rope, down to his scientist laboratory.

"CALLIE!" Adam yelled. Panic fueled his energy, and he shoved Alvin off of him and raced down the stairs after Callie.

Simon quickly pushed Callie into a chair and tied her to it. He grabbed a syringe filled with liquid.

"What is that?" Callie cried, terrified.

Simon stared into her eyes. "Jeanette," he said softly.

Callie froze.

Unknown to Callie, Jeanette was still there, trapped in a small corner of Callie's mind. Jeanette knew and saw everything that was going on, and she was begging to be released. But she was trapped—no one could hear her.

_Please, _the small piece of Jeanette was begging. _Simon. Please. Free me. Let me out of here!_

Simon saw that in Callie's eyes. He could see the small piece of Jeanette's mind in there, and he could see her begging to get out.

"This is for you, Jeanette," he said quietly.

And he put the needle into Callie's leg and pushed down the plunger.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The shout came from the doorway just as Simon pulled the needle out again. Callie slumped into the chair, unconscious. Adam barged down the stairs and knocked Simon over.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Adam bellowed in his face.

"Hands off my brother!" an angry voice ordered, and Theodore knocked Adam away from Simon.

Brittany, Eleanor, and Alvin were right behind Adam. "Did it work?" Brittany yelled.

They all turned.

Callie didn't look any different.

Then there was a WHOOSH so big that it knocked them all over. A brilliant flash of light filled the room. When it faded, Callie wasn't there.

Sitting in the chair, the ropes completely gone, was Jeanette.

She was still in Callie's clothes, and her hair wasn't in its ponytail. It hung down only to her shoulders, though, and it was the deep chocolate brown that they remembered.

With a moan, she opened her eyes and blinked, and her beautiful violet eyes were still there. She squinted, blind as a bat, until Eleanor cried "Oh!" and rushed forward with a pair of Jeanette's spare glasses. She put them on Jeanette's face, and Jeanette blinked a few times before letting out another gasp.

She turned to see Simon just inches away from her, looking very apprehensive.

"I knew that you would save me," she whispered, her face breaking into a smile.

And without thinking, he threw his arms around her and kissed her.

She was shocked for a moment, and then she slowly began to relax. She closed her eyes and kissed him back.

Adam stared in shock and horror.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he screamed, completely ruining the moment.

Jeanette, shocked, broke away from Simon and stared at him in astonishment. Her face finally cleared.

"You're Adam, aren't you?" she sighed.

"Yeah, I'm Adam!" He was furious. "Where's Callie? What have you done to her?"

Jeanette stepped forward and explained everything.

"Wait," Adam said, frowning. "So…YOU are Callie?"

She nodded.

"Then…then you love me, too. Why are you kissing him?"

Jeanette stared at him.

He drew her close to him. "Jeanette, you remind me so much of Callie. You're not Callie, but you could be. You love me, too, don't you?"

"I—I—Adam, I—," She couldn't form coherent sentences.

Simon's face fell. "Jeanette?" He sounded hurt and betrayed.

"Leave her alone," Adam sneered at him. "She loves me, not you."

"Jeanette…" Simon stared at her, and his eyes filled with tears.

Jeanette took a deep breath.

"Adam…" She reached a hand up, and Simon closed his eyes, unable to watch.

To everyone's surprise, though, she gently pushed Adam away from her and took a step back. "Adam, I'm sorry," she said gently. "I'm not Callie, even if we have similar qualities. Callie was never real. Callie was me. I'm Callie. But at the same time, I'm not. I'm Jeanette, and I'm sorry…but I _don't _love you."

Adam stared at her, not comprehending.

"No matter how much Callie did," she continued, "I don't. I'm so sorry."

She turned her back on him and walked over to Simon. He stared at her in astonishment. She smiled at him, reached up, and wiped his tears away.

"Adam, Callie may have belonged with you," she said quietly. "But I don't. I belong with Simon." She looked into his blue eyes. "I love him."

"So that's it, then." Adam's voice sounded strangled.

Jeanette turned to face him, and her eyes were filled with apologies. "I'm sorry, Adam. I never meant to hurt you."

"No," Adam said, and his voice was nearly a growl. "You have to come with me. Now."

Jeanette blinked, shocked.

"What are you talking about?" Brittany said, her tone dangerous.

"You have to come back with me, and Zoe. You don't belong here. You belong with us. Zoe can change you back."

Jeanette stared at him. "Change me back?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper. "Back…back into Callie?" She felt a surge of fright and took a step backwards. "No. No, Adam, I can't. I can't do that again. I'm not Callie! I'm not! Whenever Callie exists, I'm a prisoner, Adam. I'm a prisoner in her mind, and I can't think, or move, or function, or speak…I can't…I barely exist anymore, Adam. It's horrible. I can't."

"You have to come with us," Adam repeated, his voice low and dangerous. "Now. I need to get Callie back. I have to."

"No." Jeanette spoke firmly, not betraying her fears.

Adam's eyes narrowed.

"Fine," he said, and it was a half-snarl. "Then I'll take you myself."

Jeanette backed away, frightened.

And then, to everyone's astonishment, Simon stepped forward, putting himself between Jeanette and Adam. He drew Jeanette behind him, glaring at Adam.

"You're not going to touch her," he hissed.

Jeanette clung to his arm, frightened.

Everyone seemed to back away slightly. Eleanor and Theodore were pressed against the wall next to the stairs, and Alvin slowly took a step backward, pulling Brittany with him.

"Hey, now," he said in a low voice. "There's no need for a fight—,"

"Not if you give me Jeanette," Adam agreed.

"No," Brittany said firmly. "We can't do that."

Jeanette peered around Simon's arm, staring at Adam. "Simon," she whispered. "Don't."

He pulled her a bit farther away from Adam. "I just got you back," he told her, but it seemed like he was speaking to Adam just as much as Jeanette. "And I'm not going to let you go again."

Then, there was a thud from upstairs.

"DAVE!" Alvin and Theodore shouted at the same time. They looked frightened.

The door was flung open, and both Zoe and Dave barged into the basement.

Zoe's eyes landed on Jeanette.

What came from her mouth was something halfway between a scream of despair, a shriek of alarm, and a snarl of fury.

Jeanette cowered behind Simon.

"YOU!" Zoe bellowed at Simon. "YOU TOOK CALLIE AWAY FROM ME!" She took a step forward.

"You took Jeanette away from me first," Simon snarled back at her, pulling Jeanette closer instinctively.

Zoe took a step forward, but Dave pushed her back.

"Jeanette, get upstairs, now," Simon whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"No," she said, her voice trembling. "I'm not leaving without you."

"Jeanette, go!" Simon said, his voice urgent. "Now!"

Just then, Zoe jumped at them and snatched Simon.

Jeanette screamed.

"JEANETTE, RUN!" Simon yelled. He scratched Zoe's hand, hard, and she let go of him. He fell to the ground.

Jeanette didn't want to move. Brittany lunged forward, grabbed her sister's arm, and began to drag her toward the stairs.

"No!" Jeanette fought against her sister, trying to get back to Simon.

"He'll be fine, Jean! Come on, we have to get out of here!" Brittany yelled.

"Ellie, call the police!" Theodore whispered, and she ran after her sisters and into the kitchen where the phone was.

"ADAM, STOP THEM!" Zoe yelled, and in a flash, Adam darted up the stairs. Alvin and Theodore ran after them.

"GIRLS, RUN!" Dave yelled up the stairs as he fought with Zoe, trying to get her to let go of Simon.

Brittany yanked on Jeanette's arm and they ran into the living room toward the door. Just then, Adam slammed into Brittany and knocked her to the ground. Jeanette screamed.

"GET OUT OF HERE, JEANETTE!" Brittany yelled, struggling under Adam's grip.

Adam lifted his hand, about to hit Brittany. Brittany screamed and covered her face, but the blow never came.

Alvin's enraged roar filled the room as he knocked into Adam and pushed him to the floor. "DON'T—TOUCH—HER!" he yelled, punctuating each word by punching Adam.

Brittany scrambled to her feet and she and Jeanette bolted from the room.

In the kitchen, Eleanor was frantically telling the police where their address was.

Adam, growling, threw Alvin off of him. He grabbed Alvin and threw him across the room. Alvin slammed into Brittany, and they both hit the wall and slumped to the ground, motionless.

Jeanette screamed.

Adam shifted his weight, turning to face Jeanette, who was slowly backing away.

"Your choice, Jeanette," he hissed. "You can come quietly, or I can drag you."

She backed away from him, trembling violently.

Then, she turned and made a run for the door, which was still hanging open.

Adam was on her in a second, slamming into her from behind. She let out a cry as her leg bent awkwardly. She thought that she heard a crack.

"Guess that answers that question," he growled, grabbing her arm and pulling on it. This time she definitely heard a crack, and she let out a scream. He hauled her to her feet.

Then the quiet voice came from the doorway.

"Let. Go. Of. Her. _Now."_

They turned to see Simon standing there, fists clenched, glowering.

"Simon," Jeanette whimpered.

Adam laughed humorlessly. "And just what are YOU going to do about it?" he taunted.

Jeanette was the only one who saw the green movement in the corner.

"Let go of her now, and I won't kill you," Simon promised, his eyes sparking fury. Jeanette tried to squirm away from Adam, but he only held on tighter.

"In case you haven't noticed," Adam smirked at Simon, "I'm the one holding Jeanette here. And if you make a move toward me, then I will hurt her."

"You lay a finger on her, and you're dead, furball," Simon seethed.

"Oh!" Adam mockingly pretended to look down. "Look at that. I've got all my fingers on her."

"Not anymore!" a voice squeaked, and Theodore flew across the room from the corner, slamming into Adam. Adam fell to the ground with a yell, and he wasn't holding Jeanette anymore. Her leg buckled, and she collapsed with a cry.

In half an instant, Simon had darted across the room, scooped her up, and darted back to where he had been, across the room. Eleanor ran in from where she had been in the kitchen and helped Theodore hold Adam down.

Alvin stirred and then sprang to his feet with a cry. "Britt!" he gasped. "Britt, are you all right?"

He whirled and started at Adam. Eleanor quickly held him back.

"If you hurt her, you worthless scrap of fur, I will murder you myself," Alvin snarled at Adam, and then he whirled to Brittany's side again.

She was stirring!

"Britt?" he gasped.

She let out a moan. "Did I DREAM that you slammed me into a wall?" she muttered.

"In my defense, that was Adam's fault," Alvin said, but he was laughing as he pulled her off the floor into a hug.

"Oh, isn't that touching?"

They all whirled.

Zoe was standing there.

Holding a gun.


	10. Chapter 10

"What happened to Dave?" Alvin said immediately.

"I'm sure he's down there…somewhere," Zoe smirked. "The lights got turned off by mistake, so I'm not really sure what I hit with this." She waggled the gun teasingly.

Simon held Jeanette close to his chest protectively, and she stared up at Zoe, frightened.

"Simon, keep me in front of you," Jeanette whispered. "She needs me. She won't shoot me. I don't want you to get hit."

Alvin instantly stepped in front of Brittany, shielding her. She held her head, which was bleeding now.

Eleanor leaned closer to Theodore and whispered in his ear, _"We have to get the gun away from her."_

_ "Why?" _he whispered back.

_"Police are on their way. If we can just disarm her, we're home free all."_

_ "Where's the lasso?" _Theodore breathed, an idea springing into his head.

Eleanor brightened and touched it. It was still coiled onto her belt.

_"Get her to turn away from us so that if the gun goes off, it won't hit anyone," _Eleanor breathed, curling her hand around the lasso.

"Let go of Adam!" Zoe barked.

Eleanor and Theodore quickly dropped Adam's arms.

Adam stepped toward Simon. "Now, give me Jeanette," he smirked, "if you please."

"Never," Simon hissed.

Jeanette was swaying in and out of consciousness. She was fairly sure that her arm and her leg were broken, and she had gotten hit on the head very hard as well.

"Simon," she gasped. "Just…do…it."

"No," he whispered.

"Don't…want…you…to get…hurt," she breathed.

"I'm not going to let you go just like that," he hissed.

Just then, Theodore blinked.

Zoe instantly focused the gun on him, but he was peering over her shoulder.

"That's a funny place to put a piano," he frowned.

"What?" Zoe whirled around, and Eleanor flung the lasso.

It fell over the barrel of the gun, and she gave it a hard yank. The gun flew out of Zoe's hand, and she let out a gasp.

The gun went off.

Everyone screamed and ducked.

Theodore looked around. "Who got hit?" he asked in a small voice.

"Um…I don't think anyone did, unless there was someone directly on the side of the house," Alvin said finally, pointing to the siding in the house. A bullet hole had been punched into it.

Eleanor dragged the gun close to her and quickly flicked the safety on it.

Simon smiled triumphantly at Adam, whose fists were clenched.

"Fine," Adam hissed. "I'll take her myself."

"Not likely," Simon snarled, backing away and clutching Jeanette protectively closer.

Then there was a loud fist that hammered on the door.

"THIS IS THE POLICE!" a voice bellowed. "OPEN THE DOOR, NOW!"

Eleanor moved the gun so that it was in the middle of the floor.

Then, Dave ran up from the basement, looking just fine except for a bruise on his forehead.

"Dave!" all the chipmunks cried in happiness.

He ran to throw open the door, and several policemen entered, holding their guns up.

"Put your hands in the air," the policeman in front bellowed.

Zoe and Adam quickly threw their hands up.

Jeanette saw all of this through a dizzy haze.

"Simon," she gasped.

He looked down at her and then looked concerned. "Jeanette, your head…" He just realized that she was bleeding. Badly.

"I…love…you," she gasped.

And then everything went black.

Colors. Lights. Memories. Everything was swirling around Jeanette in a dizzy haze. There was a tiny pinprick of purple in the distance, and she stared at it, squinting. It grew larger and larger and larger…

WHAM!

Sounds and lights flooded her vision, and she instantly snapped her eyes shut again with a low moan.

A muffled gasp sounded from above. "Jeanette?" She heard a voice that sounded like an angel's voice. She knew that voice…

She squinted her eyes halfway open again and saw Simon's worried face peering over her.

"Jeanette!" he cried. "You're okay! Oh, Jeanette!"

And then he was hugging her as tightly as he possibly could.

"Simon—can't—breathe!" she choked, and he quickly released her. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"What…what happened?" Jeanette asked dizzily.

Simon's face darkened, but he kept his tone under control. "Adam hurt you. Your leg is broken, and your arm. You actually had some internal bleeding in your head, which is very, very dangerous. They managed to fix it, though. You went into a temporary coma, Jeanette. You've been unconscious for almost a month."

Jeanette's eyes bugged out. "A month?" she cried. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope," Simon said, shaking his head.

"Wow," Jeanette murmured. "Am I okay?"

"You should be," Simon told her, rubbing her shoulder. She looked around and saw that she was in a hospital bed. She was on one side, and Simon was lying next to her on the other side.

"Simon, how long have you been here?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He ducked his head. "Haven't left," he said bashfully.

She stared at him in astonishment. "For a MONTH?" she cried.

"Well…sometimes I leave once in a while," Simon admitted.

"Oh, Simon, you didn't have to do that for me," Jeanette told him.

"Jeanette, I would do anything for you," he told her, his blue eyes solemn.

She felt herself leaning in, farther and farther…

Several minutes later, they finally stopped kissing.

"So," Jeanette said at last, "what happened to Zoe and Adam and them?"

"Zoe got put in jail, for a number of things that included kidnapping, impersonation, and threatening with a gun," Simon explained. "Adam should have been put in jail for hurting you like he did, but…" Fury reared up in his eyes again. "He escaped before the police could catch him. We don't know where he is now."

Jeanette sighed. "He'll be back, I'm sure."

"Yes," Simon agreed grimly. "And we'll be waiting for him."

Jeanette smiled and reached up to give him another kiss.

Simon, secretly, was troubled. He was thinking about what had happened that night just after Jeanette had fallen unconscious…

_Jeanette slumped down into his arms, limp. _

_ "Jeanette!" Simon screamed. "JEANETTE!"_

_ "What's wrong with her?" Brittany cried, frightened. She tried to get up, but she swayed slightly and Alvin pulled her back down. _

_ "I don't know!" Simon said frantically. _

_ In the chaos, Adam dove for the gun and snatched it up. He aimed it directly at Alvin. _

_ "No!" Brittany cried. _

_ "Nobody move, or I'll pull the trigger!" Adam yelled, flicking the safety back off._

_ The police all had their guns trained on him, but they couldn't shoot without risking hurting or killing Alvin. _

_ Adam cackled, threw the gun in the air, and dove out the front door. _

_ "No!" Simon cried. He gently set Jeanette down on the floor and whispered, "I'll be right back," in her ear, not knowing whether or not she could hear him. Then he wheeled and dashed out the door after Adam. _

_ Adam and Simon faced off underneath a streetlight. _

_ "This isn't over, Simon Seville," Adam snarled. "You've taken her away from me. I will get her back."_

_ "She's not yours," Simon replied. "She never was. Callie might have been. But Callie's GONE." He enjoyed the pain that flickered across Adam's face._

_ Adam laughed humorlessly. "And did you see Jeanette? She's probably dead already."_

_ Simon snarled at him. "She's not going to die," he hissed. "She's NOT."_

_ "No," Adam agreed, suddenly serious. "She's stronger than that. Callie is stronger than that." _

_ "JEANETTE IS NOT CALLIE!" Simon yelled. _

_ Adam glared. "I'm leaving now," he snarled. "But I'll be back, and sooner than you think. I will get revenge on you, Simon Seville, for taking away everything that I loved. And I'll get revenge on your precious Jeanette, too. And when I do come back, __**you will wish that you had never taken Callie away from me."**_

___With those menacing words, Adam turned tail and disappeared into the night. Simon thought that he faintly heard an engine in the distance. He tried to chase after Adam, but it was too late. _

_ Adam was gone._

Simon shook his head and brought himself back into the present.

He looked down at Jeanette, who had fallen asleep again, but he wasn't panicked like he had been before. She would wake up again. She would recover. She would be all right.

And Simon would not let her out of his sight until Adam had been taken care of.

**Uh-oh! Duh duh DUUUUUUUUUHH… *dramatic music* Thanks so much for reading my story! Don't worry, I won't leave ya hangin'. I've already got a sequel planned out, and it should be up soon. Please review! I'd like to see what you thought of it. Until the sequel, Hostfanatic out!**


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